Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
poet of the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
era.
He was born and died in Breslau (Wrocław) in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. During his education in Danzig (Gdańsk)
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
and Leiden, he befriended Martin Opitz and Andreas Gryphius
Andreas Gryphius
Andreas Gryphius was a German lyric poet and dramatist.Asteroid 496 Gryphia is named in his honour.-Life and career:...
, 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.
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
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
poet Giambattista Marino. Hofmannswaldau's verse enjoyed great popularity until it was attacked for bad taste by Johann Christoph Gottsched
Johann Christoph Gottsched
Johann Christoph Gottsched was a German author and critic.-Biography:He was born at Juditten near Königsberg, Brandenburg-Prussia, the son of a Lutheran clergyman...
in the mid-18th century.