Heinrich Hoffmann Free Sheet Music, Program Notes Recordings and Biography

The Mind Behind "Shockheaded Peter"

One December day in 1844, a respected Frankfurt physician named Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann went searching for a Christmas present for his three-year-old son. He browsed the city's bookshops but was dismayed by what he found. The children's books of the time were moralizing, dull, and preachy. Frustrated, he returned home with an empty notebook instead. He declared to his wife, "I will make a book for the boy myself." That evening, he sat down and began to write and sketch a series of humorous, macabre, and wildly imaginative cautionary tales about naughty children who meet grimly comical fates. The result was Struwwelpeter (Shockheaded Peter), a book that would become one of the most famous and enduring works of children's literature in history. What few of its millions of readers know is that this brilliant doctor and accidental author was also a dedicated composer whose life was as rich and multifaceted as his famous stories.

From Medicine to Mania: A Frankfurt Physician

Heinrich Hoffmann was born in Frankfurt am Main on June 13, 1809. His father was an architect and city inspector, and his mother died of cholera when he was an infant. Raised in a comfortable middle-class home, the young Heinrich was a bright and observant student. He pursued a career in medicine, studying at Heidelberg and Halle, where he earned his medical degree in 1833. He returned to his native Frankfurt to practice, initially working in a paupers' clinic before opening his own successful general practice.

Hoffmann’s true medical passion, however, lay in psychiatry. In 1851, he became the director of the city's state asylum, the "Anstalt für Irre und Epileptische" (Institution for the Insane and Epileptic). Appalled by the grim, prison-like conditions, he became a pioneering advocate for reform. He championed the "no restraint" method of treatment and designed a new, modern hospital that was built on a hill outside the city, complete with gardens and airy rooms. His compassionate and progressive approach to mental health care made him one of the most respected physicians in Germany. He was a man of science, order, and deep empathy for the human condition.

A Circle of Friends: Art and Music in Biedermeier Frankfurt

Despite his demanding medical career, Dr. Hoffmann was a quintessential figure of the Biedermeier era—a time when the middle class cultivated a rich domestic life centered on art, literature, and music. Frankfurt was a vibrant cultural hub, and Hoffmann was an enthusiastic participant in its social life. He was a member of numerous clubs and societies, where he mingled with the city's leading artists, writers, and musicians.

He was a talented amateur artist, a gifted poet, and a passionate music lover. He frequented the city's famous salons and developed friendships with prominent figures, including the great composer Felix Mendelssohn. Music-making was a key part of this world. Hoffmann played the piano, sang, and, most importantly, composed. For him, composing was not a profession but a vital form of personal expression and a way to contribute to the convivial artistic gatherings he so enjoyed. He wrote numerous songs (Lieder), humorous part-songs for his men's choral society (the "Tutti-Frutti-Orden"), and even tried his hand at opera.

Struwwelpeter: An Accidental Masterpiece

Nothing in Hoffmann’s life suggested he was destined for literary immortality. The book he created for his son was never intended for publication. However, when he shared the hand-made volume with friends, their enthusiastic response was overwhelming. They urged him to publish it. In 1845, under the title Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder (Funny Stories and Droll Pictures), the first edition of 1500 copies was printed. It sold out within weeks.

Renamed Der Struwwelpeter in its second edition, the book's fame grew exponentially. It was translated into dozens of languages and became a cultural phenomenon across Europe and America. Its tales—of Harriet who plays with matches and burns to a crisp, of Conrad the thumb-sucker whose thumbs are snipped off by the great tall tailor, and of fidgety Philip who pulls the tablecloth off the table—were both terrifying and hilarious. [Image from Struwwelpeter] Unlike other children's books, Hoffmann’s stories had a theatrical, anarchic energy that spoke directly to a child's imagination. The book has never been out of print and has profoundly influenced countless writers and artists, from Mark Twain to Tim Burton.

Hoffmann the Composer: A Private Passion

While the world knew him as Dr. Hoffmann or the author of Struwwelpeter, his friends also knew him as a composer. His musical style was that of a highly skilled amateur, deeply rooted in the German Romantic tradition. His songs are melodic, charming, and show a sensitive response to their poetic texts. They are reminiscent of the more straightforward lieder of Robert Schumann or the folk-like songs of Mendelssohn.

His ambitions extended to the stage. He wrote the music for a comic opera based on Goethe's satirical poem Das Jahrmarktsfest zu Plundersweilern. His largest musical undertaking was the four-act romantic opera Undine, based on the popular fairytale by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (a subject also famously set by the composer E.T.A. Hoffmann). While his music was well-regarded within his circle, it was ultimately the work of a gifted dilettante rather than a professional master. It lacked the harmonic complexity and structural innovation of his great contemporaries. Nonetheless, his compositions provide a wonderful window into the musical tastes and practices of the educated middle class in 19th-century Germany.

A Legacy of Cautionary Tales and Forgotten Melodies

Heinrich Hoffmann lived a long and productive life, retiring from his medical duties in 1888 and passing away in his beloved Frankfurt in 1894 at the age of 85. His legacy is overwhelmingly defined by the slim volume he created as a Christmas gift. Struwwelpeter has become a part of our collective cultural consciousness, a masterpiece of dark humor that continues to delight and disturb in equal measure.

His medical achievements were significant in his own time, marking him as a humane and forward-thinking reformer. His music, however, remains his most private legacy. It is the sound of a brilliant, creative mind at play—the melodies of a man who, after a long day of healing the sick and governing an institution, found solace and joy at the piano, setting poems to music and sharing his creations with friends. To listen to his songs is to appreciate another, quieter side of the genius who gave the world Shockheaded Peter.

Section 4: References and Further Reading

• Ashton, Susanna M. "Heinrich Hoffmann's 'Struwwelpeter': An Inquiry into the Effects of Violence in Children's Literature." The Journal of Psychohistory 24, no. 3 (Winter 1997).

• Bodmer, George R. "The Illustrated Poem." In The Oxford Companion to the Picturebook, edited by Kerry Mallan and Clare Bradford. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

• Hoffmann, Heinrich. Struwwelpeter: Fearful Stories and Vicious Pictures to Instruct Good Little Folks. Various publishers.

• Zipes, Jack. "The Publishing History of Struwwelpeter." In Struwwelpeter: From Sinful Stories to Classic Children's Books, edited by Jack Zipes. New York: Routledge, 2014.