HOPFEN

hopfen, hans von (1835-1904), german poet and novelist, was born on the 3rd of january 1835, at munich. he studied law, and in 1858, having shown marked poetical promise, he was received into the circle of young poets whom king maximilian ii. had gathered round him, and thereafter devoted himself to literature. in 1862 he made his debut as an author, with _lieder und balladen_, which were published in the _munchener dichterbuch_, edited by e. geibel. after travelling in italy (1862), france (1863) and austria (1864), he was appointed, in 1865, general secretary of the "schillerstiftung," and in this capacity settled at vienna. the following year, however, he removed to berlin, in a suburb of which, lichterfelde, he died on the 19th of november 1904. of hopfen's lyric poems, _gedichte_ (4th ed., berlin, 1883), many are of considerable talent and originality; but it is as a novelist that he is best known. the novels _peregretta_ (1864); _verdorben zu paris_ (1868, new ed. 1892); _arge sitten_ (1869); _der graue freund_ (1874, 2nd ed., 1876); and _verfehlte liebe_ (1876, 2nd ed., 1879) are attractive, while of his shorter stories _tiroler geschichten_ (1884-1885) command most favour. an autobiographical sketch of hopfen is contained in k. e. franzos, _geschichte des erstlingswerkes_ (1904).