Trivia
He wrote under the following names:
- Polykarpus Gastfenger (The given name is the German version of that of a Christian martyr; the surname sounds like "Gastfänger", which could be translated as "guest-catcher".)
- Heulalius von Heulenburg
- Heinrich Hoffmann
- Heinrich Hoffmann-Donner (The second half of the compound surname is the maiden name of his wife Therese. It would mean "thunder" as a common noun, or a name for the Germanic thunder-god Thor.)
- Heinrich Kinderlieb (The surname means roughly "child-friendly"/"nice to 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 there is a Heinrich-Hoffmann-Museum.
He is the subject of the historical novel, 98 Reasons For Being written by Clare Dudman.
He and his book Der Struwwelpeter is mentioned in The Office episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day".
One of the short stories contained within Der Struwwelpeter, "Die Geschichte vom Daumenlutscher" or "The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb" is the loose basis for the song "Scissor Man" by the British band XTC. The story involves a little boy whose punishment for sucking his thumbs is getting them cut off by the tailor. The song was more popularly covered by Primus.
Struwwelpeter's statue stands in the center of Frankfurt am Main, in Hoffman's honour.
Read more about this topic: Heinrich Hoffmann (author)
Famous quotes containing the word trivia:
“The most refined skills of color printing, the intricate techniques of wide-angle photography, provide us pictures of trivia bigger and more real than life. We forget that we see trivia and notice only that the reproduction is so good. Man fulfils his dream and by photographic magic produces a precise image of the Grand Canyon. The result is not that he adores nature or beauty the more. Instead he adores his camera—and himself.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
“Pop artists deal with the lowly trivia of possessions and equipment that the present generation is lugging along with it on its safari into the future.”
—J.G. (James Graham)