The Serapion Brethren (Die Serapionsbruder) is the name of a literary and social circle, formed in Berlin in 1818 by the German romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann and several of his friends. The Serapion Brethren also is the title of a four-volume collection of Hoffmann's novellas and fairytales that appeared in 1819, 1820, and 1821.Hoffmann's stories were very influential during the 19th century. He is one of the major authors of the Romantic movement. Contents of Vol II include: THE LIFE OF A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER ALBERTINE'S WOOERS THE UNCANNY GUEST MADEMOISELLE SCUDERI GAMBLERS' FORTUNE SIGNOR FORMICA PHENOMENA THE MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE OF THINGS THE KING'S BETROTHED Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffmann (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann), was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. He is the subject and hero of Jacques Offenbach's fictional opera The Tales of Hoffmann, and the author of the novelette The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.