Die Elixiere des Teufels : Nachgelassene Papiere des Bruders Medardus, eines…
"Die Elixiere des Teufels : Nachgelassene Papiere des Bruders Medardus, eines…." by E. T. A. Hoffmann is a novel written in the early 19th century. It is a Gothic, confessional tale framed as the posthumous papers of a Capuchin monk, charting spiritual temptation, pride, visions, and the lure of a diabolical elixir. The story centers on Brother Medardus, whose religious calling collides with unsettling apparitions and a mysterious bottle said to come
from the Devil. The opening of the novel sets an editorial frame: an editor in a monastery garden introduces the “papers” of Brother Medardus and invites the reader into his extraordinary life. Medardus then narrates his childhood near the holy shrine of Heilige Linde, early mystical impressions, and the protection of a noble abbess who supports his education; he eventually gravitates to a Capuchin house under the kindly Prior Leonardus. He struggles briefly with sensual temptation, chooses the cloister, becomes a famed preacher, and grows dangerously proud until a ghastly stranger in a violet mantle shatters him mid-sermon. Put in charge of the reliquaries, he learns of a flask from St. Anthony’s legend—the Devil’s “elixir”; a visiting count and tutor uncork it as fine wine, and later, tormented and desperate, Medardus secretly drinks from the bottle at night and feels a sudden, intoxicating resurgence of strength. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Hoffmann, E. T. A. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus), 1776-1822 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Stern, Ernst, 1876-1954 |
| Title | Die Elixiere des Teufels : Nachgelassene Papiere des Bruders Medardus, eines Kapuziners |
| Original Publication | Berlin: Buchverlag fürs Deutsche Haus, 1908. |
| Note | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil%27s_Elixirs de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Elixiere_des_Teufels |
| Credits | Markus Brenner and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 71.7 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Language | German |
| LoC Class | PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures |
| Subject | Gothic fiction |
| Subject | Monks -- Fiction |
| Subject | Devil -- Fiction |
| Subject | Fantasy fiction, German |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 76360 |
| Release Date | Jun 23, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 212 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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