Hans Hopfen

Who was Hans Hopfen?

Demetrius Hans Hopfen was a Bavarian poet and novelist.

Hans Hopfen, the son of Angelotta Mayer, was born in Munich. At the age of 10 he was acknowledged by his father Simon Hopfen. Hans studied law and history from 1853 to 1858 in Munich, where he was a member of the Corps Franconia. He retired from the Bavarian civil service soon after the referendary and began publishing his songs and ballads in Emanuel Geibel's Münchener Dichterbuch; he was soon inducted into the Munich circle of writers known as Die Krokodile. By the age of 25 he had earned a reputation as a gifted romantic with his lyrical poems and the humorous peasant novel Der alte Praktikant. Efforts to further his education led him to Venice in 1862, Paris in 1863, and Vienna in 1864, where he was in close contact with Franz Grillparzer. From 1865-66 he was Secretary General of the German Schiller Foundation in Vienna under the presidency of Paul Heyse. After 1866, he worked as a freelance writer in Berlin. In 1888 he was ennobled by the Prince Regent Luitpold.