City Walk

From 1815 until his death in 1822, E. T. A. Hoffmann – a judge at the Court of Appeal, poet and composer – made his home in the neighbourhood of what is now the Mendelssohn-Remise.

His opera *Undine* was performed at the theatre on the Gendarmenmarkt, whilst he spent his nights carousing in the local wine bars. In caricatures and stories such as *The Adventures of New Year’s Eve* and *Cousin’s Corner Window*, Hoffmann captured the goings-on in the area at that time.

His satires on the social life of the time were also read with amusement by the Mendelssohn family. The painter Wilhelm Hensel, who later married Fanny Mendelssohn, even became a literary character in one of Hoffmann’s ghost stories.

A map of the city, drawn by Hoffmann himself, is a useful aid when tracing his literary footsteps through the city.

IN GERMAN