Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau (baptised 25 December 1616 – 4 April 1679) was a German poet of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

era. He was born and died in Breslau (Wrocław) in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. During his education in Danzig (Gdańsk) and

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

, he befriended

Martin Opitz Martin Opitz von Boberfeld (23 December 1597 – 20 August 1639) was a German poet, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime. Biography Opitz was born in Bunzlau (Bolesławiec) in Lower Silesia, in the Principality of ...

and

Andreas Gryphius Andreas Gryphius (german: Andreas Greif; 2 October 161616 July 1664) was a German poet and playwright. With his eloquent sonnets, which contains "The Suffering, Frailty of Life and the World", he is considered one of the most important Baroque ...

, both leading figures in 17th-century German poetry. In his later years, Hofmannswaldau involved himself in the city politics of Breslau, rising to the position of

Bürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

. During his lifetime, Hofmannswaldau's poems circulated mostly in manuscript. It was the posthumous publication of ''Deutsche Übersetzungen und Gedichte'' in 1679 that assured his reputation as the most influential poet of his era, followed by Benjamin Neukirch's even more extensive collection, ''Herrn von Hoffmannswaldau und anderer Deutschen auserlesener und bißher ungedruckter Gedichte'', the first volume of which appeared in 1695. Hofmannswaldau's style of poetry came to be known as ''Galant'' and is marked by extravagant metaphors, skillful use of rhetoric and unashamed eroticism. It shows the influence of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

poet

Giambattista Marino Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to "John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is "Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, Gia ...

. Hofmannswaldau's verse enjoyed great popularity until it was attacked for bad taste by

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pru ...

in the mid-18th century.

Sources

* ''Gedichte des Barock'', ed. Ulrich Maché and Volker Meid (Reclam, 1980)

External links

* *
Complete poems of Christian Hofmannswaldau (In German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau, Christian 1616 births 1679 deaths Baroque writers German poets Writers from Wrocław German male poets