author
1851–1917
Best known by the pen name Arnold von der Passer, this German engineer and writer left behind a striking early science-fiction novel that imagines Europe centuries after social collapse. His work blends adventure, political speculation, and a very 19th-century sense of warning about the future.
by Arnold von der Passer
Writing as Arnold von der Passer, Franz Lewy Hoffmann was a German engineer and author born on June 28, 1851, and he died in Merano, South Tyrol, on October 16, 1917. Reliable reference sources identify Arnold von der Passer as his pseudonym.
He is chiefly remembered today for Mene Tekel!: Eine Entdeckungsreise nach Europa (1893), a speculative novel discussed by The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as an early future-history work. The story follows an expedition from a utopian settlement in Kenya to a devastated Europe centuries later, using adventure fiction to explore inequality, capitalism, and the breakdown of civilization.
A few library and book records also connect the name Arnold von der Passer with poetry and libretti, but the best-confirmed detail is the lasting reputation of Mene Tekel!. For modern listeners and readers, he stands out as a little-known voice from the early days of German-language science fiction.