Hoffbauer, Clemens Maria, a Roman Catholic, and the first Redemptorist (q. v.) in Germany, was born at Tasswitz, in Moravia, Sept. 26, 1751. His par- ents had intended him for the ministry, but the sudden death of his father left his mother in destitute circum- stances, and at the age of fifteen Hoffbauer was ap- prenticed to a baker. While engaged in his trade he studied Latin, and passed an examination in the lower class of a monastery school, determined to become a priest at some future time, if possible. The bishop of Tivoli (later Pius VII) finally took him under his pro- tection, and Hoffbauer succeeded in making his way to Vienna, where he studied at the university. In 1783 he went to Rome, whither he had journeyed already twelve times, and joined the congregation of the Rederaptor- ists. Two years later, after consecration to the priest- hood, he retiurned t« Vienna, and then to Warsaw, where a house and a church of St. Benno were placed at his dis- posal. From this he and his associates afterwards bore the name of Bemumites. The success of the Redemp- torists in the estabUshment of a monastery at this place was so great that Pius VI, in 1791, decided to give them an annual support of 100 scudi. The Roman Catholics assert that many Protestants became converts of Hoff- bauer, and that their confidence m him and his brothers of the monastery was unbounded. While the latter may be possible, the former is siurely improbable. The effect of the French Revolution may have led some disturbing minds to join the ranks of the Roman Catholics, because many of that Church had taken such a pecidiar attitude in France against true Christianity. Later Hoffbauer also established a monastery in Switzerland. Here he and his followers suffered great persecution, which, while it is possible that the disturbed state of the people gave rise to it, is more likely to have been provoked by Hoff- bauer and his followers. This last supposition receives additional strength from the dealings of Napoleon while in Prussia. He imprisoned them one entire month in the fortress of Kustrin, and, after a search of their pa-
pers, demolished the monastery and discontinued the order. Some time later Hoffbauer succeeded in es- tablishing an educational institution at Vienna, which had been presented to the Redemptorists by a con- verted (?) Protestant. In 1815 he went to Bulgaria, and retiu'ned to Vienna in 1818, where the govern- ment (Roman Catholic) ordered him from the coun- try. The intercession of the clergy influenced the em- peror not only to annul the order of the government, but to establish even a monastery at Vienna under his own protection. Hoffbauer died suddenly INIarch 25, 1820. In his labors he was assisted by J. T. Hibel, who died in 1807. Initial steps have been taken for his beat- ification (q. v.). See Posl, D. erste deutsche Redemptor- ist, in s. Leben und Wirken (Reg. 1844) ; S. Brunner, //. wul seine Ztit (Vienna, 1850) ; Real-Encyklop. f. d. Ka- thol. Deutschl. V, 413 sq. (J. H. W.)
HofFeditz, Theodore L., D.D., a German Reformec} minister, was born near Carhshaven, on the Weser, Ger- many, December 10, 1783. He emigrated to America in 1807. He first followed the calling of a school-teacher. Subsequently he studied theology with Rev. Samuel Helfenstein, D.D., in Philadelphia. He was licensed and ordained in 1813, and became pastor of German Re- formed congregations in Northampton County, Pa., and served this charge during the remainder of his life, with the exception of brief intervals, durmg which he served numerous congregations which he organized in neigh- boring counties. In 1843 he, with Rev. Dr. Schneck, vis- ited Germany, bearing a call from the Synod of the Ger- man Reformed Church to Dr. Krummacher to become professor of theology in the seminary at Mercersburg. He died Jidy 10, 1858. Mild, warm-hearted, and zeal- ous. Dr. HofFeditz exerted a wide and blessed influence in the Church. One of his sons entered the minist^J^
HofiFmann, Andreas Gottlieb, a very tlistin- guished theologian and Orientahst, born April 13, 1796, at Welbsleben, near ]\Iagdeburg, was educated at the University of Halle, where the influence of Gesenius led him to a thorough study of the Shemitic languages, es- pecially the SjTiac. After graduation he lectured at his alma mater for a short time on the Arabic language, and in 1822 was called as extraordinary professor to Jena. Here he was advanced to the regidar professor- ship in 1826, with the degree of S.T.D. and membership in the theological faculty. At the time of his death, March 16, 18(V4, he was senior ot the theological faculty and of the senate of the university. As a professor at Jena he devoted himself mainly to the philological de- partment of theology. His most popular lectures were on Hebrew Antiquities; but, like Gesenius, he lectured also on Church History, Isagogics, both of the Old and New Testament, Exegesis of the Old Testament, and on all the Shemitic and Eastern languages generally studied at a German university. In philology, his Grammatica Syriaca (Hal. 1827; translated into English by Day and Cowper) is by some of the best authorities considered superior to any other yet published, that of UUmann in- cluded. Among his ot^her works are Entwurfd. hebr. A l- terthilmer (Weini. ls"!2\ which is based on the work of Warnekros (Weini. 1 7s_> and 1794) •.—Commentariusphil.- crit.in Mosis bi iD-il/rli'OK-m. (in pamphlet form, Halle ; later, Jena, 1822, etc.) :—ApokaIyptiker d. alt. Zeit iinter Juden und Christen (Jena, 1833-38, vol. i, part i and ii, containing the book of Enoch). Hoffmann was also ed- itor of the second section of the great Encyclopjedia of Ersch und Gruber. In addition to these literary labors, he contributed largely to the German theological and philological periodicals. — Herzog, Real-Encyklop. xix, 651 ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, xxiv, 899 ; Brock- haus, Conversat.-Lex. v, 20. (J. H. W.)