HOFFMANN, AUG. HEINRICH, commonly called HOFF3IANN VON FALLERSLEBEN, a distinguished German poet and philologist, was born April 2, 1798, at Fallersleben, in the district of Luneburg, He went in 1816 to the university of Gottingen, which in 1819 he left for Bonn. He soon gave up theology, which his father had destined him to, and occupied himself exclusively with philological and literary studies, which, from his first acquaintance with the brothers Grimm (1818), turned more and more to his native language and literature. After traveling through the Rhine countries and Hol land in search of popular poetry, and living for some time in Berlin, he was made keeper of the university library of Breslau in 1823, extraordinary professor of the uni versity there in 1830, and ordinary professor of the German language and literature in 1833. The publication of his Unpolitisclse Lieder (Unpolitical Lays) led to his being deprived of his office, Dec. 20, 1842. For some years afterwards Hoffman, thrown entirely upon literary work for his support, led a wandering life through the whole of Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, the subject of laudation on the one hand, or of vituperation on the other, and at times kept under the surveillance of the police. In
1845 he was naturalized in _Mecklenburg. Restored to his rights in Prussia, 1848, he drew from that time his statutory salary as a pension, He married in 1S49, settling on the Rhine, and in 1834 he went to 'Weimar. In 1860 he became librarian to the duke of Ratibor, at the castle of Korvei, on the Weser, where he died in 1874. His principal philological and antiquarian works are: llorce Belgiece (1830-37). Reineke Vos (1834), Geschichte des Deutschen Rirekezzlieds (1832), collections of ancient German political (1843) and social (1844) songs, Spenden zur Deutseken Literaturgesckiehte (1845), and Die Deutsche Philologie (1836). Hoffmann's own poetry has a close alliance to popular song, and hits the tone of genuine simplicity, tenderness and pathos to a degree that scarcely any other poet of recent times has succeeded in doing. He also produced many admirable tunes for his songs. The appeared in 1834 (8th ed. 1874), and he published numerous collections of songs, as Allemannische Lieder, Soldatenlieder, Kinderlzeder, etc. He wrote an autobiography in 6 vols. (Mein Leben, 1862-70).—See Wagner's II. von Fallersleben (1869), and Gottschall, Portrats (1876).