When does the event start?

The concert reading begins on May 20, 2026, at 19:30.

Where does the evening take place?

The venue is the ETA Hoffmann Theater Bamberg at E.T.A.-Hoffmann-Platz 1 in 96047 Bamberg.

Is the event free of charge?

The event is listed as free sale. A specific ticket price is not mentioned in the available sources.

What is the content about?

It focuses on early texts from E.T.A. Hoffmann's Bamberg period as well as the character Johannes Kreisler as a literary alter ego.

Is there musical accompaniment?

Yes, the reading will be accompanied by an instrumental ensemble from the ETA Hoffmann Gymnasium.

Is the venue accessible?

The ETA Hoffmann Theater is described as accessible in the available theater documents.

Bamberg Celebrates Hoffmann's Sound World with a Literary Reading Full of Romance

Name: The Musical Sufferings of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler - Kick-off Event for 250 Years of E.T.A. Hoffmann
Start: 2026-05-20T21:30:00+02:00
End: 2026-05-20T23:00:00+02:00
Location: ETA Hoffmann Theater Bamberg

An Evening for E.T.A. Hoffmann: When Bamberg Makes the Romantic Hearable Again

With the concert reading The Musical Sufferings of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, the ETA Hoffmann Theater in Bamberg opens the anniversary year for 250 Years of E.T.A. Hoffmann. The evening combines literature, music, and city history into a literary experience that makes the Bamberg period of the author visible in all its intellectual tension.

Johannes Kreisler as Literary Alter Ego

At the center is a character who has become almost emblematic of Hoffmann’s work: Johannes Kreisler, the sensitive, rebellious conductor caught between musical ideals, societal satire, and inner turmoil. The early texts from Hoffmann's Bamberg years already show that linguistic energy, which would later characterize the fantasy pieces, Kreisleriana, and the major narratives. Here, the musician becomes the author, transforming from an observer into a sharp-tongued chronicler of bourgeois culture.

Music, Reading, and Stage Presence

Stephan Ullrich gives voice and form to the literary self-portrait. The reading is accompanied by an instrumental ensemble consisting of students from the ETA Hoffmann Gymnasium. This very connection between young musical practice, scenic concentration, and romantic linguistic art gives the evening its special reading atmosphere. Not just a presentation, but an author encounter in the best sense: intimate, reflective, and imbued with that irony that makes Hoffmann’s texts unmistakable to this day.

Bamberg as a Resonance Chamber of Romanticism

The location is no coincidence. Bamberg was for Hoffmann a place of work, inspiration, and friction. In the city, texts emerged in which music, theater, society, and imagination enter into a productive tension. It is precisely the concert reading that makes this constellation perceptible: the audience experiences how closely literary quality and musical perception belong together for Hoffmann. The evening thus bridges the historical author to the present of a vibrant cultural space.

For Literature Lovers, Music Enthusiasts, and the Inquisitive

Anyone interested in Romanticism, German literary history, and performative readings will find an evening with character here. The event is suitable for visitors who appreciate linguistic craftsmanship as much as musical interpretation and cultural contextualization. The anniversary year begins with a format that not only remembers but reads anew, listens anew, and discovers anew.

Conclusion: This kick-off event promises a clever, sensual, and historically charged evening between literature and music. Those who want to not only read E.T.A. Hoffmann but to experience it atmospherically should attend this reading live in Bamberg.