Talk:Heinrich Hoffmann (author)

Early life and education
Hoffmann was born in Frankfurt to an architect father, Philipp Hoffmann, who was responsible for the city's streets and waterways. Hoffmann's mother died when he was a baby. His father later married her sister, Antoinette Lausberg, who was a loving and more than adequate mother to him. Lazy and easily distracted, Hoffmann at first struggled at school, but became a successful student after conforming to the strict discipline imposed by his demanding father. At university in Heidelberg, he immersed himself into the corps student culture aptly portrayed by Mark Twain (in his ??). His zest for dueling was small, but owing to his sociability, good humour and wit, Hoffmann soon became the center of many social circles, a pattern that would later repeat itself in his hometown. His progress in his medical studies was slow because of the many distractions. To flee these he left Heidelberg for Halle, where he concentrated on his studies under Professor Peter Krukenberg, the founder of a charity clinic. His first brush with medical practice coincided with a cholera outbreak in Halle. After getting his medical degree, he intended to spend a year in Paris (funded by the Frankfurt Bethmann bank) to improve his knowledge of surgery. But due to the deteriorating health of his father, he had to return home early.

Hezarfen67 (talk) 21:16, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Family life

Hoffmann married Therese Donner and had three children by her, two of whom survived him, as did his wife. He was known to draw comic sketches for his children as well as for his wife.

Professional life as a physician and psychiatrist

Hoffmann worked for a pauper's clinic and had a private practice. He also taught anatomy at the Senckenberg institute for the advancement of science. None of this paid very well, and when the Frankfurt lunatic asylum's previous doctor (who was a friend of his) retired in 1851, he was eager to take the post even though he had no expertise in psychiatry. This changed quickly, as his later competent publications in the field show. Hoffmann portrays himself as a caring, humane psychiatrist, who strove to be the sunshine in the life of his miserable patients. His gregarious personality may well have been popular with many of them. His statistical compilations show that up to 40 % of the people with acute cases of what would today be called schizophrenia were discharged after a few weeks or months and stayed in remission for years and perhaps permanently. Always a skeptic, he voices doubts whether this is due to any therapy he may have given them. Much of his energy from went into campaigning for a new, modern building with gardens in the city's green belt. He was successful and the new clinic was built at the site of today's Frankfurt University's Humanities campus. (The original building was demolished in the nineteentwenties.).

Professional life as a writer

Hoffmann published poems and a satirical comedy before, in 1845, a publisher friend persuaded him to have a collection of illustrated children's verses printed which Hoffmann had done as Christmas present for his son. The book, later called "Struwwlpeter" after one of its anti-heroes, became popular with the public and had to be reprinted regularly; many foreign translations followed. "Struwwelpeter" was not perceived as cruel or overly moral by Hoffmann's contemporaries. The original title, "Funny stories and droll pictures", indicates that entertainment was at least partly the author's intention.

After the "Struwwelpeter's" success, Hoffmann felt persuaded to write other children's books, of which only the first (König Nussknacker oder der arme Reinhold) became popular.

He also kept on writing satires and (often comic) poems for adults. His satires show his strong skepticism towards all kinds of ideology and his distaste for (religious, philosophical or political) bigotry. Even in Germany, he is today largely remembered for his Struwwelpeter.

Politics

Hoffmann from early on had liberal leanings, meaning he supported German unity under a constitutional monarchy, democratic elections, freedom of the press, and equal rights for all male citizens including Jews (whose emancipation had suffered setbacks in many German states after "liberation" from Napoleonic rule). As a member of the city's legislative assembly and was (according to his own testimony) instrumental in opening the sessions to the public. His sense of equality was such that he founded a club ("Bürgerverein") which expressly inivited (male) members of all walks of life, including the uneducated and Jewish citizens. Also, he left his freemason's lodge after antisemitic tendencies took hold there. Seized with patriotic-democratric pathos during the early days of the 1848 revolution, he became a member of the Frankfurt preliminary national assembly that prepared the elections, but was soon disappointed by the divisive and dogmatic, unproductive discussions that followed. He stopped meddling kin politics afterwards.

Pro-bono public activities

Hoffmann, a popular and well-connected figure in his hometown, became an active member of several non-political public bodies during his lifetime. Among them were the administration of the Städel Kunstinstitut (institute of art) and the Mozart Foundation (who funded Max Bruch, among others).

Hezarfen67 (talk) I copied my draft into the article; some editing will have to be done, links etc. I will return to do at least some of that when I have time. Sources are mainly Hoffmann's autobiography, and my reading of his works. I tried to remove the stub tag but couldn't. Hezarfen67 (talk) 18:26, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Philipp Hoffmann couldn't have been Heinrich's father
This section describes Philipp as Heinrich's father, despite the former being only three years older than the latter. Could anyone please tell me what to do here? Thylacine24 (talk) 02:28, 11 September 2022 (UTC)