Patriotic poet, philogist and literary historian whose "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" was adopted as the German national anthem after Worl War I.
His uncomplicated and attractive verses with their love of country and fellow feeling were of great sifnificance to the German student movement.
Having studied at the universities of Göttingen and Bonn he was custodian of the university library at Breslau (1823-38); he became extraordinary professor of German language and literature there in 1830 and ordinary professor in 1835.
Removed by the Prussian authorities in 1842 for his Unpolitische Lieder (1840-41), interpreted despite its title as political, he was allowed to return after the revolution of 1848.
In 1860 he was appointed librarian to the Duke of Ratibor at Corvey Castle.
Hoffmann was among the earliest and most effective of the poets who prepared the way for the revolutionary movement of 1848.
He also composed melodies for many of his songs which were sung throughout Germany. His "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" written in 1841 is typical in its expression of popular feeling -the wish for national unity felt by German liberals of the period. In the first line the word "Deutschland" was repeated to fit Haydn´s tune, adopted from the Austrian national hymn. The third verse of the song "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit" (Unity and Justice and Freedom) continued to be sung as the national ahthem after World War II in West Germany.
As a student of ancient Germanic literature Hoffmann ranks among the most persevering and cultivated of German scholars. His Deutsche Philologie im Grundriss (1836) made a valuable contribution to philological research.
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