Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau

Albrecht Classen (University of Arizona)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 25 Dec 1616
Died 18 Apr 1679
Activity 1662-1679

Places

Born in Poland
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Poet
Translator

Resources

Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau was generally regarded as the head of the Silesian school of poets during the high Baroque period in Germany. He closely followed the general rules for poetry prescribed by Martin Opitz in his poetic Von der teutschen Poeterey [Of German Poetry, 1624], but he also adapted many different models. In the prologue to his Deutsche Uebersetzungen und Getichte [German Translations and Poems, posthumously, 1679], he underscores his indebtedness to Opitz and French, Dutch, Italian, and English colleagues and his distaste for the “alte[ ] rohe [ ] Deutsche[ ] Art” [11; “the old crude German style”]. In particular, he rejects medieval literature and praises, above all, the contributions by Dante and Petrarch as the founders of a new understanding of poetry. For him, French writers such as Clément Marot...

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2253 words

Citation: Classen, Albrecht. "Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 October 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11832, accessed 15 December 2025.]