New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Nutcracker and the Mouse-King

“The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (1816)

“The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” Text Version

“The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” Audio Version

E.T.A Hoffman

E.T.A. Hoffman

E.T.A. Hoffmann (born January 24, 1776, Königsberg, Prussia [now Kaliningrad, Russia]—died June 25, 1822, Berlin, Germany) was a German writer, composer, and painter known for his stories in which supernatural and sinister characters move in and out of men’s lives, ironically revealing tragic or grotesque sides of human nature.

Although Hoffmann wrote two novels, Die Elixiere des Teufels, 2 vol. (1815–16; The Devil’s Elixir), and Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler, 2 vol. (1820–22; “The Life and Opinions of Kater Murr, with a Fragmentary Biography of Conductor Johannes Kreisler”), and more than 50 short stories before his death from progressive paralysis, he continued to support himself as a legal official in Berlin. His later story collections, Nachtstücke, 2 parts (1817; Hoffmann’s Strange Stories), and Die Serapionsbrüder, 4 vol. (1819–21; The Serapion Brethren), were popular in England, the United States, and France. Continued publication of the stories into the second half of the 20th century attested to their popularity. (From Britannica.com)

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Snowflakes