Ernst Hoffmann - biography, facts, photos

Ernst Hoffmann was a German romantic writer, artist, lawyer and composer. He was a very versatile person. During his biography, he managed to create many brilliant works in the field of literature and music.

There are many dramatic moments in Hoffmann's biography, which we will tell you about. But first things first.

So, here is a short biography of Hoffmann .

Biography of Hoffmann

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was born on January 24, 1776 in Königsberg (East Prussia). He grew up in the family of lawyer Christoph Ludwig.

Childhood and youth

When Ernst was 3 years old, his parents decided to divorce. In connection with this, his maternal grandmother and uncle, who worked as a lawyer, were involved in his upbringing.

It is worth noting that Hoffmann’s uncle was a very intelligent and creative person who showed interest in science fiction and mysticism. It was he who prompted the boy to connect his life with jurisprudence.

In addition, his uncle helped him develop his abilities in artistic and musical creativity.

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann

Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (German: Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann). Born January 24, 1776, Königsberg, Kingdom of Prussia - died June 25, 1822, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia. German romantic writer, composer, artist and lawyer.

Out of respect for Amadeus Mozart, in 1805 he changed his name from “Wilhelm” to “Amadeus”. He published notes about music under the name Johannes Kreisler.

Hoffmann was born into the family of a baptized Jew, Prussian lawyer Christoph Ludwig Hoffmann (1736–1797).

When the boy was three years old, his parents separated, and he was brought up in the house of his maternal grandmother under the influence of his uncle, a lawyer, an intelligent and talented man with a penchant for fantasy and mysticism. Hoffmann showed early talent for music and drawing. But, not without the influence of his uncle, Hoffmann chose the path of jurisprudence, from which he tried to escape throughout his subsequent life and make a living through art.

1799 - Hoffmann writes the music and text of the three-act singspiel "The Mask".

1800 - In January, Hoffmann unsuccessfully tries to stage his Singspiel at the Royal National Theatre. On March 27, he passed the third jurisprudence exam and in May was appointed to the position of assessor at the Poznań District Court. At the beginning of summer, Hoffmann travels with Hippel to Potsdam, Leipzig and Dresden, and then arrives in Poznan.

Until 1807, he worked in various ranks, studying music and drawing in his free time.

In 1801, Hoffmann wrote the singspiel “Joke, Cunning and Revenge” based on the words of Goethe, which was staged in Poznan. Jean Paul sends the score with his recommendation to Goethe.

In 1802, Hoffmann created caricatures of some people in Poznań high society. As a result of the ensuing scandal, Hoffmann was transferred as punishment to Plock. At the beginning of March, Hoffmann breaks off his engagement to Minna Dörfer and marries a Polish woman, Michalina Rohrer-Trzczyńska (he affectionately calls her Misha). In the summer, the young couple move to Plock. Here Hoffmann acutely experiences his forced isolation; he leads a secluded life, writes church music and works for piano, and studies the theory of composition.

In 1803 - Hoffmann's first literary publication: the essay “Letter from a Monk to his Capital Friend” was published on September 9 in “Pravodushny”. Unsuccessful attempt to enter the Kotzebue Competition for Best Comedy ("Award"). Hoffmann is trying to be transferred to one of the western provinces of Prussia.

In 1805, Hoffmann wrote music for Zechariah Werner's play “The Cross in the Baltic.” “The Merry Musicians” is being staged in Warsaw. On May 31, the “Musical Society” appeared, and Hoffmann became one of its leaders.

In 1806, Hoffmann was engaged in the decoration of the Mnischkov Palace, acquired by the Musical Society, and he himself painted many of its rooms. At the grand opening of the palace, Hoffmann conducts his Symphony in E-flat major. On November 28, the French occupy Warsaw - Prussian institutions are closed, and Hoffmann loses his position.

Music

During the period of biography 1807-1808. Hoffmann lived in Berlin. At this time, he made money as a tutor, teaching music lessons.

However, this money was completely insufficient even for a meager existence, as a result of which he often experienced serious financial difficulties.

Nevertheless, Hoffmann continued to be interested in art, because only in it did he see the meaning of life. Over time, he discovered his talent as a composer.

Over the course of several years, he wrote many musical works, including the operas Aurora and Ondine, the ballet Harlequin and piano sonatas.

In 1808, Hoffmann worked as a theater conductor. After that he conducted in German theaters.

An interesting fact is that when he was about 30 years old, he changed his name from “Wilhelm” to “Amadeus”, since he was a great admirer of Mozart. It is fair to say that he also proved himself excellent as a music critic.

Hoffmann's biographers agree that his literary works are inseparable from music. This can be clearly seen in the short stories “Cavalier Gluck” and “Kreisleriana”.

In 1815, Hoffmann lost his position as bandmaster, and therefore was forced to return to the service he hated so much. However, working as a lawyer allowed him to be financially independent and left him plenty of time for creativity.

THIS. Hoffmann / Biography

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was born into the family of royal court lawyer Christoph Ludwig Hoffmann and his wife Lovisa Albertina (née Dörfer). After his parents' divorce (1778), he lived with his mother and grandmother. He graduated from the Reformed school in Königsberg in 1792 (at the same time he took music and painting lessons) and entered the law faculty of the University of Königsberg. Hoffmann received his diploma only in 1800, but already from 1795 he served as a judicial investigator at the Königsberg city government; the following year, due to a conflict over love, he was forced to leave Königsberg.

Lived in Berlin (1798–1800), then in Poznan. He combined his legal service with musical composition studies. Beginning in 1799, Hoffmann wrote several singspiels (similar to vaudeville or a musical) based on his own words or those of others, which were staged on stage. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had an important influence on Hoffmann as a composer. As a sign of this influence, in 1804 he changed his third name, Wilhelm, to Amadeus.

In 1802, Hoffmann married Michalina Rohrer-Trzczyńska, a Polish woman, in Poznań. His only daughter Cecilia, born in 1805, died two years old.

In 1807, he left the legal service and, moving from city to city, tried to make a living through music and then literature. In 1808–1811 Hoffmann served as conductor and director at the Bamberg theater in 1813–1814. - Musical Director of the Leipzig Drama Troupe Josef Sekunda. In between, Hoffmann gave music lessons; one of the students, Julia Mark, became the subject of his passionate love. All these events took place against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars, the arena of which also included Germany.

Ultimately, Hoffman was forced to return to legal practice. He moved to Berlin and in 1816 became an adviser to the court of appeal. In 1821 he was transferred with an increase in salary to the High Senate of Appeal. However, already at the beginning of the next year, Hoffmann's health deteriorated (probably largely due to the bohemian life that he began to lead): at the end of March he was paralyzed, and in June he died.

Hoffmann's first literary publication (not counting Singspiels) was “Letter from a Monk to his Friend in the Capital” (1803). But usually the beginning of Hoffmann’s creative career is considered to be the short story “Cavalier Gluck” (1808), published in the issue of the “General Musical Newspaper” dated February 15, 1809 and then included in the collection “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot” (1814). Thus, the writer’s creative path lasted only 14 years, but his legacy is quite large: the novels “Elixirs of Satan” (1815), “The Worldly Views of Murr the Cat” (1818), “Lord of the Fleas” (1822). ), collections of stories “Night Studies” (1817) and “Serapion’s Brothers” (1821), numerous short stories and fairy tales that were not included in the books published during the writer’s lifetime. Hoffmann created a special type of romantic narrative, which had a huge influence on all European literature, including Russian. The concept of “Hoffmannian” implies a romantic dual world, the invasion of fantasy into everyday life, a combination of lyricism and irony, sarcasm. Almost always, in the center of Hoffmann’s narrative, the “eccentric” rejected by philistine society is a romantic who combines sublime, tragic and comic traits. Many of Hoffmann’s images have entered world culture - for example, the image of the freak little Tsakhes, who lives on the merits of others (the fairy tale “Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober”, 1816).

The most famous of Hoffmann's fairy tales - "The Golden Pot" (1814), "Princess Brambilla" (1820), "Little Tsakhes" - are sometimes published as children's tales, although the philosophical and mystical subtext in them is quite complex for a child to understand.

Hoffmann's place in literature for children is associated primarily with the fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (Nußknacker und Mausekönig, 1816), published in the collection “Children's Fairy Tales by Karl Wilhelm Salice-Contessa, Friedrich Baron de la Motte-Fouquet and E. -T.-A. Hoffmann." The worldwide fame of the fairy tale was promoted by the adaptation for the stage, performed in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas the Father, and especially by the ballet by P. I. Tchaikovsky (1892). It is noteworthy that the famous Christmas tale is dedicated to the children of Hoffmann’s close friend (and later biographer), lawyer and writer J. Hitzig, who was a Jew who was forced to convert to Lutheranism. Marie and Fritz are the real names of Gitzig's children. Advisor Drosselmeyer, the owner of the key to the magical world, who gives Christmas gifts to children, is the alter ego of Hoffmann himself. Thus, two worlds merge - real and fantastic, where the Nutcracker fights the Mouse King.

In the 1820s and 30s, Hoffmann was in great vogue in Russia. At the same time, translations of “The Nutcracker” appeared. The first was a translation by Vladimir Burnashev (1835) entitled “The Doll Mr. Click.” Subsequently, the word Nußknacker was translated in different ways - “Nutcracker”, “Nuts Rodent”. The word “Nutcracker” first appeared in the title of the opera and then in Z. Zhuravskaya’s translation (1894). The most famous translation is by I. S. Tatarinova (1938).

Hoffmann's fairy tale influenced the first masterpieces of Russian children's literature - “The Black Hen” by Antony Pogorelsky and “Town in a Snuff Box” by Vladimir Odoevsky. The fact that the creative reception of fairy tales in our country continues is evidenced by Tatyana Ilyina’s cartoon (2003), which had great international success.

Works of Hoffmann

In 1809, Ernst Hoffmann published the short story “Cavalier Gluck,” which became the first work in his creative biography. After that, he wrote many more short stories, which were later combined into the collection “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot.”

During his life, Hoffmann composed dozens of fairy tales, stories and novels. Many animated and feature films have been made based on his works. In addition, performances based on the playwright's plays are staged all over the world.

As a writer, Hoffman realized himself most of all in the last decade of his biography. The following works brought him the greatest popularity:

"Elixirs of Satan";
"Lord of the Fleas";
“The Life Beliefs of Murr the Cat”;
"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King";
"Serapion's brothers."

Literary heritage

Ernst Hoffmann's first literary work, the short story “Cavalier Gluck,” was published in 1809 in the Leipzig General Musical Newspaper. This was followed by short stories and essays, united by the main character and bearing the general title “Kreisleriana”, which were later included in the collection “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot” (1814–1815).

The period 1814–1822, marked by the writer's return to law, is known as his heyday as a writer. During these years, such works were written as the novel “Elixirs of Satan” (1815), the collection “Night Studies” (1817), the fairy tales “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (1816), “Little Tsakhes, nicknamed Zinnober" (1819), "Princess Brambilla" (1820), a collection of short stories "Serapion's Brothers" and the novel "The Life Beliefs of Murr the Cat" (1819–1821), the novel "The Lord of the Fleas" (1822). ).

In 1818, the health of the great German storyteller Hoffmann, whose biography is replete with ups and downs, begins to deteriorate. Daytime work in court, requiring significant mental effort, followed by evening meetings with like-minded people in a wine cellar and night vigils, during which Hoffmann sought to write down all the thoughts that came to mind during the day, all the fantasies generated by a brain heated by wine fumes - this way of life significantly undermined the writer's health. In the spring of 1818, he developed a spinal cord disease.

At the same time, the writer’s relationship with the authorities became complicated. In his later works, Ernst Hoffmann ridiculed police brutality, spies and informers, whose activities were so encouraged by the Prussian government. Hoffman even seeks the resignation of the chief of police, Kampets, which has turned the entire police department against himself. In addition, Goffman defends some democrats, whom his duty is to bring to court.

In January 1822, the writer's health deteriorated sharply. The disease reaches a crisis. Hoffmann develops paralysis. A few days later, the police confiscate the manuscript of his story “The Lord of the Fleas,” in which Kamptz is the prototype of one of the characters. The writer is accused of disclosing judicial secrets. Thanks to the intercession of friends, the trial was postponed for several months, and on March 23, Hoffmann, already bedridden, dictated a speech in his own defense. The investigation was terminated while the story was edited in accordance with censorship requirements. "Lord of the Fleas" comes out this spring.

Personal life

During his biography, Hoffman repeatedly fell in love with women. While still a student, he dated a young girl, Dora, for several years. However, he could not propose to her because she was married and had five children.

In 1800, Hoffmann met Michaelina Rohrer-Trzczyńska. The young people often communicated and found a lot in common with each other. After 2 years, he realized that he was in love with a girl.

For this reason, Hoffmann broke off his engagement to his cousin Minna Dörfer in order to marry Michaelina. An interesting fact is that for the sake of his future wife, he converted to Catholicism.

Hoffmann never regretted his decision. He loved his wife to the point of unconsciousness, who supported him in every possible way and was a reliable support for him.

THIS. Hoffman / Books in the National Electronic Children's Library

Hoffmann, E. T. A. Two tales of Hoffmann for big and small children / Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann. — St. Petersburg: type. A. Sycheva, 1840. - [6], 320 pp., [6] l. ill. — The original is stored in the State Historical Library.
Hoffmann, E. T. A. The Tale of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King / Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann; lane with him. S. V. Flerov. - Moscow: A. Lang, 1882. - 123 p. —The original is stored in the Russian State Library.
Hoffmann, E. T. A. The Tale of the Nutcracker and the Mouse King / Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann; lane with him. S. V. Flerova. - Moscow: K. N. Tsvetkova, 1903. - 140 p. — The original is kept in the Russian State Library.
Hoffmann, E. T. A. Master Martin-Bochar and his apprentices / Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann; lane with him. A. Fedorov. - Moscow: Detizdat, 1937. - 95 p. — The original is kept in the Russian State Library.
Hoffmann, E. T. A. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King / Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann; lane with him. I. Tatarinova. — Moscow: Central Committee of the Komsomol. Publishing house of children's literature, 1938. - 63 p. — The original is kept in the Russian State Library.
Hoffmann, E. T. A. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King / Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann; lane with him. I. Tatarinova. - Moscow: Makhaon, 2021. - 139, [3] p. — The original is kept in the Russian State Library.

Hoffmann's childhood

Hoffmann was born in Königsberg (East Prussia) in 1776 into the family of a lawyer. At baptism, the boy was named Ernst Theodor Wilhelm, but later, in 1805, he changed the name Wilhelm to Amadeus - in honor of his musical idol Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. After his parents' divorce, three-year-old Ernst was raised in the house of his maternal grandmother. His uncle had a great influence on the formation of the boy’s worldview, which is clearly manifested in further milestones in Hoffmann’s biography and work. Like Ernst’s father, he was a lawyer by profession, a talented and intelligent man, prone to mysticism, but, in Ernst’s own opinion, limited and overly pedantic. Despite the difficult relationship, it was his uncle who helped Hoffmann reveal his musical and artistic talents and contributed to his education in these areas of art.

Brief biography of Ernst Hoffmann

Option 1

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann is an outstanding German writer, composer and artist, representative of romanticism. Born on January 24, 1776 in Konigsberg in the family of a Prussian lawyer. When he was only three, his parents divorced and he spent most of his childhood in his grandmother's house. His maternal uncle, a lawyer, was mainly involved in raising the boy. He was the smartest man with a rich imagination. Hoffmann early began to show an inclination towards music and drawing, but chose a career as a lawyer. Throughout his subsequent life, he combined jurisprudence with the arts.

In 1800, he brilliantly graduated from the University of Königsberg and entered the public service. All attempts to make money through art led to impoverishment. The writer's financial situation improved only after receiving a small inheritance in 1813. For some time he worked as a theater conductor in Bamberg, and then as an orchestra conductor in Leipzig and Dresden. In 1816 he returned to public service, becoming a judicial officer in Berlin. He remained in this post until his death.

He considered his work to be hateful, so in his free time he began to engage in literary activities. In the evenings, he locked himself in a wine cellar and wrote horror stories that came to mind, which later turned into fantastic stories and fairy tales. The collection of stories “Fantasies in the Manner of Callot” (1814-1815) was especially popular. After this book, he begins to be invited to various literary salons. Then “Night Stories” (1817), “Serapion’s Brothers” (1819-1820) came out. In 1821, Hoffmann began working on “The Everyday Views of Murr the Cat.” This is partly autobiographical work, full of wisdom and wit.

One of the writer’s most famous works was the fairy tale “The Golden Pot”. Of the musical compositions, the opera Ondine was especially popular. Initially, German critics were unable to properly appreciate Hoffmann's talent, while in other countries his works enjoyed great success. However, over time, he gained a reputation as a talented musician and literary critic. Subsequently, his work influenced the work of Edgar Allan Poe and several French writers. Hoffmann's life and works formed the basis of J. Offenbach's opera "The Tales of Hoffmann." The writer died on June 24, 1822 as a result of paralysis.

Option 2

German writer and composer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann was born in Königsberg on January 24, 1776. Soon the boy's parents divorced, and his uncle took up raising the child, under whose influence young Hoffman entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Konigsberg.

While studying at this institution, Hoffmann's first novels were written. After graduating from university, the writer worked in Poznan as an assessor, but then was transferred to Polotsk, where he married and settled down.

Soon Hoffmann left the civil service, hoping to devote himself to art. In 1803, the writer’s first essay, “A Letter from a Monk to his Capital Friend,” was published, and later several operas were written, which Hoffmann tried to stage on stage to no avail.

At this time, Hoffmann worked as a composer and conductor in Dresden. This money was barely enough for the young family to make ends meet.