Heinrich Hoffmann (author)
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For other people known by the same name, see Heinrich Hoffman (disambiguation).
Heinrich Hoffmann (June 13, 1809 in Frankfurt am Main - September 20, 1894 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German psychiatrist, who also wrote some short works including Der Struwwelpeter (German for either "slovenly Peter" or "shock-haired Peter"), an illustrated book portraying children misbehaving.
He wrote under the following names:[1]
- Polykarpus Gastfenger (The given name is the German version of that of a Christian martyr; the surname sounds like "Gastfänger", which could be a common noun for "guest-catcher".)
- Heulalius von Heulenburg
- Heinrich Hoffmann
- Heinrich Hoffmann-Donner (The second half of the compound surname would mean "thunder" as a common noun, or a name for the Germanic thunder-god Thor.)
- Heinrich Kinderlieb (The surname means roughly "love of children")
- Reimerich Kinderlieb
- Peter Struwwel (This name reverses the order of the components of "Struwwelpeter".)
- Zwiebel (As a common noun, this would mean "onion")
In Frankfurt/Germany there is a Heinrich-Hoffmann-Museum Frankfurt
Hoffmann studied medicine in Heidelberg. From 1851, he was director of the municipal psychiatry in Frankfurt.
He is the subject of the historical novel, 98 Reasons for Being.
He is mentioned in The Office episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day".
