Transcript E.T.A. Hoffman

E.T.A.
Hoffman
By: Chenoa Morris
A.K.A. Katja
Some Facts on E.T.A. Hoffman
Full name: Ernst Theodor
Wilhelm Hoffman (later
changed to Ernst
Theodor Amadeus
Hoffman)
Born on January 24, 1776
From Konigsberg, East
Prussia a very lively and
cultural place
Map of East Prussia
A Picture of Konigsberg
Family History
• Father- Christoph Ludwig Hoffman
1736-1797. He was a barrister in
Konigsberg, Prussia
• Mother- cousin of Christoph: Louisa
Albertina Doerffer 1748-1796
• E.T.A was the youngest of three
children. The second child died in
infancy
• Eldest son is named Johann Ludwig
Hoffman
A Broken Home
• E.T.A’s pArEnTs gET A divorcE whEn hE
was 3
• Father Christoph moves with his
eldest son Johann to Inters berg,
E.T.A. never sees them again
• Left in his mothers care
• Louisa Doerffer was said to be on the
edge of insanity, to live with her
became to difficult
• E.T.A. goes to live with his uncle Otto
Wilhelm Doerffer
The School Days
• 1782- attended reformed
“Burapchule” school in
Konigsberg where he studied
the arts and sciences, as well
as music, drawing, and
painting
• 1786- close friendship with
Theodor Hippel began
• 1792- Began studying law at
the University of
Konigsberg
A start in the working world
• 1795- Hoffman passes his 1st state
law exam and starts work as an
assistant in Konigsberg
• 1798- He passes his 2nd state law
exam & was transferred to
Kammergericht (Chamber Court) in
Berlin
• 1800- In March he passes his 3rd state
law exam & was appointed an
assessor by the Prussian government
& transferred to Posen (Poland)
Sad Times
• 1796- On March 13th death of Mutter as a
result E.T.A. moves to Glogau with his god
Uncle J.L.Doerffer
• 1797- On April 27th death of his Vater at
Intersberg
Finds Love & More
• 1802- Hoffman marries
Maria Thekla Michaelina
Rorer-Tracinska, a
young Polish girl
• 1804- in February he
was appointed as
councilor & transported
to Warsaw
• 1805- in July his
daughter Caecilia was
born
A Change In Career
• 1805- E.T.A. becomes vice president of the
Musikalische Gesellschaft (Musical Society),
he conducts his first Orchestra
• Out of respect for the composer Mozart
E.T.W. (A) changes his 3rd Christian name
Wilhelm to Amadeus
Napoleon & his French army
• 11-28-1806 French troops
invade Warsaw which leads to
the demise of Prussian
government & its courts
• The effect, E.T.A. loses his job
• Anyone who wouldn’t swear
allegiance to Napoleon was
told to leave the country
• E.T.A. wanted to go to Vienna
but was denied
• E.T.A. is forced to go to Berlin
The near
starvation years
• 1807- August his daughter
Caecilia dies of cholera
• E.T.A. couldn’t keep a job
• He had to borrow money
constantly from friends &
family
• He was barely able to survive
& was starving
Musical Career
Starts
• 1808- Hoffman becomes a music director in
Bamberg
• 1809- his first weird tale is written called Ritter
Gluck
• 1810- Hoffman becomes a director, composer
of occasional works, stage designer and
painter at the Bamberg Theater
• Hoffman also did private music lessons
Facts
• Hoffman was considered the 1st
romantic composer
• He loved writing about the lives
of musicians
• He invoked music in his stories
whenever possible
• 1st to create unusual sound
effects in his programs
• 1st to support Beethoven
intelligently
His Musical Accomplishments
• 10 Operas which led to
a dozen plays
• Vocal music
• 2 Masses
• Several Cantatas &
Motets
• Considerable amount
of Chamber music
• 2 symphonies
Realization
• Hoffman realizes that he will
never have a stable or long-term
career in music so he turns to
writing in the last 10 years of his
life
E.T.A. Hoffman (the writer)
• Key author of the romantic
movement
• Considered the first flowering of
the horror & fantasy short story
• Called the first Edgar Allen Poe
of his time
• Had the technique of presenting
the supernatural convincingly
• Hoffman considered to be a
favorite German author in
Europe, Canada, and the United
States
Job Security
• 1813- Hoffman obtains a secure position
as a Judge in Berlin. He holds this position
in the Supreme Court until his death
• His writings continue throughout
Famous Writings
• The Jesuit Churches in G
• Nussknacker und
Mausekonig
• The Little Zaches
• Die Elixiere des Teufels
• The Life & Opinions of
Kater Murr
• Der Sandmann
• Der Goldne Topf
• The Nutcracker & The
Mouse King
• The Devils Elixir
• His last unfinished book
• The Sandman
• The Golden Pot
About his stories
• His short stories in
which supernatural
characters reveal
peoples hidden secrets
• E.T.A. reveals the tragic
and sometimes
grotesque sides of
human nature by
populating their lives
with sinister characters
Continued
• Hoffman’s fairy tales have been praised for
their imagination, beauty, and idealism
• They are structured around clash of good &
evil
• Also a contrast between mans ideal & his
mundane existence
• He presents a view of a better world for
“those who have eyes to see it”
Der Goldne Topf
• This story is about a magical battle between the
Archivarius & the witch. It involves the powers of
the supernatural world running rampant through
Dresden.
• Critics agree that The Golden Pot is Hoffman’s
best story written
• E.T.A. considers it to be the best as well. While
working on this story he wrote “God grant me to
finish the story as I have begun it. I have never
done anything better; everything else is still &
lifeless compared to it”
Some more stories
• Der Sandman(The Sandman) written in 1817 is a
tale surrounding a young man Nathaniel in which
he believes a salesman he encounters is a gruesome
childhood fairy tale character come to life
• Die Automate(Automata) written in 1814 is a two
part tale containing a ghost story and a mystery
about a robot
• Der Elixiere des Teufels(The Devils Elixir)
written in 1815-16 is a doppelganger tale in which 2
characters identities are so intermeshed that neither
can tell where one begins and the other ends
The Nutcracker &
the Mouse King
• This story is popular in
children books
• Performances of the
Nutcracker are a yearly
feature in many cities
around Christmas time
• It inspired Pystr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky’s ballet in
1892
View of the Nutcracker
E.T.A.’s nuTcrAckEr
TodAy’s nuTcrAckEr
Some Book
Covers
References of Hoffman in other fiction
• Robertson Davies invokes Hoffman as a character
with a pet name of ETAH trapped in limbo within
his novel Lyre of Orpheus 1988
• Andrew Crumey’s novel Mobius Dick also
mentions Hoffman
• Alexandre Dumas referenced Hoffman in The
Count of Monte Cristo
• Der Sandmann(The Sandman) influenced
Sigmund Freud's theory “Oedipal Castration
Complex”
E.T.A. Hoffman (his death)
• 1822 E.T.A. became ill
• He abused alcohol and contracted
syphilis which led to weakening of
his limbs, eventually this led to his
paralysis
• Hoffman dies in Berlin at the age
of 46
Written on his
Gravestone
• The Life E.T.W. Hoffman
• Born Konigsberg in Prussia
on January 1776
• Died in Berlin, on 25 June
1822
• Legal Court Advisor
• Excellent In His Official
Position
• As writer
• As composer
• As artist
• Dedicated by his friends
A drawing of
himself
Influences
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Europe
Carl Jung
Sigmund Freud
Edgar Allen Poe
United States
Washington Irving
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Charles Dickens
Major Influence
Hoffman Lives On
• E.T.A. Hoffman was received and read
with great enthusiasm in France &
Russia
• By 1833 an edition of his works
appeared in France
• 10 years later he had become the best
known German Romantic
Die Welt Wird Traum, der
Traum Wird Welt!
The world becomes the dream,
the dream becomes the world!
E.T.A. Bamberg Theater
About the E.T.A. Hoffman Theater
• The theater was built in 1802
• Named in honor of the German poet and
composer, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann.
E.T.A. Hoffman House &
Museum
E.T.A. Hoffman House/A Germany
Attraction
• The E. T. A. Hoffmann Haus in Bamberg is
located on Schillerplatz. This house was the
former home of the man, who became one of
the main people involved in the Romantic
movement. This house is a museum to
Hoffmann and his works, with many of his
writings and memorabilia on display.
Works Cited
• http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hoffman.htm
• http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/we
ekly/aa083000a.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._T._A._Hoffma
n
• http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/37
32/hoffm-zeittafel.html
• http://www.agermanyattraction.com/