Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, who hailed from Konigsberg in East Prussia, certainly contributed greatly to the world-prestige of German Romanticism by virtue of his famous tales. He lived from 1776 to 1822. His name was actually F. T. Wilhelm, but because of his fascination with Mozart, he changed his name to E. T. Amadeus. Hoffmann’s fairytale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse Kingcc later became the source for Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. 

Herr Drosselmeyer is the mysterious grand-uncle who presents little 12 year old Klara with an enchanting gift — a wooden nutcracker. Herr Drosselmeyer breaths life into it, and the nutcracker, as well as all the other figures, suddenly come to life for Kiara as if in a dream. It is precisely the way any true self respecting nutcracker acts when he comes to life every night at the magical hour to perform his faithful duty. Herr Drosselmeyer is now gathering all of his fairytate figures around him. It will be most intriguing to see what develops.