History Creator / ETAHoffmann

Born in Königsberg, UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} (today Kaliningrad, UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}), he became a lawyer, following the family tradition, though without much enthusiasm, as he was drawn to music, literature and the arts. He entered a career as a civil servant in Prussian UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}, held a position in Warsaw and had a young wife, when, in the course of UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, French troops captured the city in 1806 and forced the Prussian administration to flee.

* ''The Nutcracker and the Mouse King": Best known as the basis for Tchaikovsky's ''Theatre/TheNutcracker'' ballet.

* LongTitle: ''The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, together with a fragmentary Biography of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler on Random Sheets of Waste Paper''.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Perigrinus Tyss definitely looks to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum.

* UncannyValley: Olimpia, apparently, was so precise in singing and dancing, that after her RoboticReveal it became a requirement in proper society to make deliberate blunders in these.

* "[[http://www.michaelhaldane.com/kleinzaches.htm Little Zaches, Great Zinnober]]": a fairy tale about the FakeUltimateHero taken UpToEleven.

* "Literature/TheSandman"

Nevertheless, Hoffmann in 1809/10 achieved breakthrough both as a writer and music critic. But only when a twist of fate allowed him to resume his civil service career in UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}, he finally enjoyed financial security. He continued to write besides his day job, but alcohol abuse and syphilis – which he had contracted during his wandering years – led to his early death at the age of 46.

Hoffmann is Germany's foremost writer of what has later been called 'Dark Romanticism'. While his lighter works mix [[FairyTale fairy tale fantasy]] [[MagicRealism with realism]], others delve headlong into the grotesque, the uncanny, the supernatural, and horror. [[MindScrew Some are simply weird.]] At the same time, Hoffmann also relished sophisticated satire, self-parody, and wry, ironic humor. You're right, Hoffmann was an European version of [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe Poe]] before there was Poe.

During his life (and long afterwards as well) he remained a polarizing writer. His taste for {{Ghost Stor|y}}ies brought him the derisive nickname "Gespenster-Hoffmann" (Ghosts-Hoffmann), Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe called his fiction “sick”, and Creator/WalterScott likewise ended a 1827 review of his works with the conclusion that Hoffmann should have [[CausticCritic sought medical help.]] Notwithstanding, Hoffmann’s fiction played a key role for 19th century {{Fantasy}}, {{Horror}}, and the emerging [[MysteryFiction Mystery]] genre.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: His character [[AuthorAvatar Johannes Kreisler]], a genius musician and composer but also [[CrazyAwesome legitimately insane]] and downright antisocial.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Invoked -- in failing health, Hoffmann abandoned writing ''The Life and Opinions of Tomcat Murr''. His pet cat, also named Murr and an inspiration for the story, had died. The book was published with a note saying that its "author", Murr, had left it unfinished at his death.

* MagicRealism: Many of his stories combine fantastic elements with realism. Can be considered an UrExample of the genre.

Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann (he changed Wilhelm into Amadeus out of his admiration for [[Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart Mozart]]), was a German author of the early 1800s, the early {{Romantic|ism}} era, known for his [[GothicHorror Gothic]] and fantastical stories.

* ''Literature/MademoiselleDeScuderi''

* ''The Artushof''
* ''The Entail''

* ''The Mines of Falun''

* ''The Sandman''
* ''The Golden Pot'': A fairy tale novella.
* ''[[http://www.michaelhaldane.com/kleinzaches.htm Little Zaches, Great Zinnober]]'': a fairy tale about the FakeUltimateHero taken UpToEleven.

* ''The Devil’s Elixir'': A Gothic novel, directly inspired by M. G. Lewis' ''Literature/TheMonk''.

* ''Literature/TheArtushof''
* ''Literature/TheEntail''

* ''Literature/TheMinesOfFalun''
* ''Literature/TheNutcracker''
* ''Literature/TheSandman''

* "The Artushof"
* "The Entail"
* "Mademoiselle de Scuderi"
* "The Mines of Falun"
* "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King": Best known as the basis for Tchaikovsky's ''Theatre/TheNutcracker'' ballet.
* "The Sandman"
* "The Golden Pot": A fairy tale novella.
* "[[http://www.michaelhaldane.com/kleinzaches.htm Little Zaches, Great Zinnober]]": a fairy tale about the FakeUltimateHero taken UpToEleven.
* "Master Flea": Another fairy tale... although, for its time, it might just as well be science fiction.

* "Literature/TheArtushof"
* "Literature/TheEntail"

* "Literature/MademoiselleDeScuderi"
* "Literature/TheMinesOfFalun"
* "Literature/TheNutcracker"
* "Literature/TheSandman"

During his life (and long afterwards as well) he remained a polarizing writer. His taste for {{Ghost Stor|y}}ies brought him the derisive nickname "Gespenster-Hoffmann" (Ghosts-Hoffmann), Creator/{{Goethe}} called his fiction “sick”, and Creator/WalterScott likewise ended a 1827 review of his works with the conclusion that Hoffmann should have [[CausticCritic sought medical help.]] Notwithstanding, Hoffmann’s fiction played a key role for 19th century {{Fantasy}}, {{Horror}}, and the emerging [[MysteryFiction Mystery]] genre.

This led to a [[RockBottom troubled time in Hoffmann’s life]] during which he faced poverty, separation from his wife, and the death of his infant daughter, while looking for employment all over [[AllTheLittleGermanies Germany]]. For the following years (spent in Bamberg, Leipzig and Dresden), Hoffmann worked as a theatre manager, music teacher, stagehand, decorator, playwright, and musical director, but neither of these jobs lasted so long or was so well paid as to put him out of financial troubles. In 1813, he was again overtaken by war when the family experienced the Battle of Dresden.