This biography of Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau (1616-1679) draws on hitherto largely untapped source material to describe the life and work of the Silesian poet and city councillor of Breslau (Wroclaw) against the backdrop of the rival claims of politics and literature. By extending its purview to the political, economic, socio-historical and above all intellectual climate prevailing in Silesia in general and Breslau in particular, it takes account of the quickening interest to be noted of late in the cultural history of the city.