Thoughts of a cat: One of the most beautiful exhibits in the exhibition on ETA Hoffmann in the Frankfurt Romantic Museum is the sheet on which Hoffmann shows with streaks of black ink what it looks like when his cat Murr writes.
The style is weighty but graceful, playful but determined, just as a cat should be.
And that is just a single sheet among the many exhibits in the show, which can be seen at the Großer Hirschgraben until February 12th.
She tames the flea circus of Hoffmann's works, areas of work and thoughts.
Here is a sketch by the hand of the man who began work on his story The Sandman not by writing down a sentence, an idea or first words, but with a drawing from which he would later draw characters, plot, themes and atmosphere developed.
There the marvel of the show, a life-size mechanical trumpeter, who looks so real in his glass case with moustache, instrument raised to his lips and uniform, as if one were about to hear the first notes.
It comes from the workshop of Christian Seiffert and Paul Heinrich and from the same year, 1816, in which the "Sandman" was published.
The extensive accompanying program of the exhibition offers readings, guided tours and open studios.
On November 26, the Midnight Story Orchestra from Nuremberg will present Hoffmann's gothic novel "The Elixir of the Devil" in the Volksbühne from 7:30 p.m. as a radio play concert.
At the Goethe University, a series of lectures entitled “Hoffmanneske Heimsuchungen” will be dedicated to the life and work of the writer until the end of the winter semester.
On November 28, the Würzburg Germanist Maximilian Bergengruen will speak on the topic "The devil in the details of inheritance" using the example of the story "Ignaz Denner".
The lecture in lecture hall 6 of the lecture hall center on the Westend campus begins at 6:15 p.m.
All that remains is to find out where Murr learned to write so beautifully.