Hoffmeister was born in Rothenburg, two years prior to Mozart. At 14, he went to Vienna to study law but soon abandoned it to pursue music. By 1785, he had founded a music publishing business, which was not financially stable. In 1799, he befriended organist Ambrosius Kuhnel and together they founded the Bureau de Musique, later known as CF Peters. The Bureau published important works by Haydn, Mozart, and Bach, as well as acquiring Beethoven's works. In 1805, Hoffmeister sold his shares to Kuhnel and devoted himself to composing until his death in 1812. His publishing house became a part of CF Peters.
