Herbert Hoffmann
Herbert Hoffmann (December 30, 1919 – June 30, 2010) was a German tattoo artist and photographer. • Illustration — Eagle made by Hoffmann, 1975 • Illustration — Hoffmann's grave in Heiden, 2018
Herbert Hoffmann
Manfred Kohrs · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Herbert Hoffmann
- Born
- December 30, 1919
- Died
- June 30, 2010
- Occupation
- Tattoo artist and photographer
- Nationality
- Germany
- Languages
- German
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Herbert Hoffmann (December 30, 1919 – June 30, 2010) was a German tattoo artist and photographer. • Illustration — Eagle made by Hoffmann, 1975 • Illustration — Hoffmann's grave in Heiden, 2018
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Note VALÉORINE
Herbert Hoffmann (1919–2010) was a photographer and tattoo artist, of German nationality. The photographer was born in Chociwel and died in Heiden. Languages used include German.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 1118656334 · wikidata · Q87613 · wikipedia · Herbert Hoffmann
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Herbert Hoffmann • Born — December 30, 1919 • Died — June 30, 2010 • Occupation — Tattoo artist and photographer • Website — www.herberthoffmann.net
Biography
Biography
Hoffmann was born December 30, 1919 in Freienwalde, Pomerania. He died on June 30, 2010 in Heiden, Switzerland.
solo exhibitions (selection)
solo exhibitions (selection)
• 2018: Es juckt schon wieder unter dem Fell, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, St. Gallen • 2013: Herbert Hoffmann, Künstlerverein Malkasten, Düsseldorf • 2011: Herbert Hoffmann, Galerie Susanne Zander, Köln • 2010: St. Pauli Souvenirs, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Berlin • 2010: Living Pictures, Ten Haaf Projects, Amsterdam • 2006: Unter die Haut – Fotografie und Tatauierkunst des Herbert Hoffmann, Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden • 2004: Glaube – Liebe – Hoffnung, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Dresden
group exhibitions (selection)
group exhibitions (selection)
• 2018: Tattoo, Natural History Museum, Los Angeles • 2017: Freimütig, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Dresden • 2017: Tattoo und Piercing – Die Welt unter der Haut, Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde, Leipzig • 2016: Tattoo, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago • 2016: Tattoos: Ritual. Identity. Obsession. Art., Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto • 2015: Tattoo, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg • 2014: Bielefeld Contemporary, Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Bielefelder Privatsammlungen, Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld • 2014: Tatoueurs, tatoués, Musée du quai Branly, Paris • 2014: Intimität, Galerie der Stadt Remscheid, Remscheid • 2013: 25, Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Berlin • 2013: Tattoo, Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, Winterthur • 2013: the look behind, Märkisches Museum (Witten) • 2013: Hey! modern art & pop culture / Part II, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris • 2012: c´est la vie – Das ganze Leben, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden • 2011: HotSpot Berlin – Eine Momentaufnahme, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin • 2010: Auf Leben und Tod – der Mensch in Malerei und Fotografie. Die Sammlung Teutloff zu Gast, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Köln • 2010: Weisser Schimmel–You can observe a lot by watching, Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg • 2010: Nude Visions – 150 Jahre Körperbilder in der Fotografie, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig • 2008: transgressive body/ reincarnated flesh, Artspace Tape Modern, Berlin • 2006: Mensch! Photographien aus Dresdner Sammlungen, Kupferstichkabinett Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden • 2006: Signs & Surfaces – Andreas Fux, Herbert Hoffmann, Ali Kepenek, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin • 2005: YES YES YES YES. Differenz und Wiederholung in Bildern der Sammlung Olbricht, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1919
Herbert Hoffmann was born in 1919 at Chociwel.
2010
Herbert Hoffmann died in 2010 at Heiden.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Chociwel.
Birth place
Heiden.
Death place
Hoffmann as photographer
From 1961 Hoffmann produced professional photographic works in his Hamburg tattoo studio. Thus Herbert Hoffmann portrayed almost 400 tattoos within three decades with a Rolleiflex, born between 1878 and 1952. His photographic work has been represented by Galerie Gebr. Lehmann since 2004. "The portraits are staged with great formal care and seriousness. The result is the image of a subculture that has its roots in the gay scene and among sailors and dock workers, but which goes far beyond it." - ELKE BUHR, MONOPOL-MAGAZIN 2018
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q87613: Herbert Hoffmann
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Herbert Hoffmann”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1118656334, Herbert Hoffmann-Gedächtnis-Stiftung e.V..
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Literature
Literature
• Bilderbuchmenschen. Tätowierte Passionen 1878–1952, Published by Memoria Pulp, 1st Edition 2002, German/English • Traditionelle Tattoo-Motive, Published by Huber Verlag, Mannheim, 1st Edition 2008 (together with Dirk-Boris Rödel), • Motivtafeln – Hamburger Tätowierungen von 1950 bis 1965, Published by Ventil Verlag, 2000,
Der Tätowierer Herbert Hoffmann
Sabrina Ungemach | Tattoo Kulture Magazine sabrina.ungemach@tattoo-kulture.de · sabrina.ungemach@tattoo-kulture.de
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Feige, Marcel, Das Tattoo-und Piercing Lexikon, , S. 152, german
- 2.Herbert Hoffmann. Herbert Hoffmanns - fotografisches Schaffen // photographic works.
- 3.Galerie Gebr. Lehmann / Herbert Hoffmann. www.galerie-gebr-lehmann.de.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1118656334, Herbert Hoffmann-Gedächtnis-Stiftung e.V..Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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- Herbert KepplerPhotographer
- Herbert LambertPhotographer
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