1776–1822 · Königsberg, Prussia · also known as Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
E. T. A. Hoffmann was a judge, composer and music critic who wrote the eeriest tales of German Romanticism. “The Sandman” (1816), with its mechanical doll, inspired Freud’s essay on the uncanny; “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (1816) became Tchaikovsky’s ballet; and The Devil’s Elixirs (1815) is a Gothic classic.
Begin with The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · Friedrich Schiller · Brothers Grimm · Theodor Fontane · Thomas Mann · Franz Kafka · Hermann Hesse · Erich Maria Remarque
E. T.
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is usually considered E. T. A. Hoffmann’s best-known work, followed by The Sandman, The Devil’s Elixirs.
Most readers start with The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
Both refer to the same writer. Other spellings and names include Hoffmann, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann.
Many of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s works are in the public domain; we link to free editions below.