The Golden Pot fairytale may have been influenced by his experience in the theater, which began in 1808 (Robertson 1992, xi). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute" was one of the many operas that Hoffmann conducted during the period in which he wrote "The Golden Pot". In the opera, Tamino must survive tests imposed by Sarastro,a wise magician, if he is to win her. The wise old Sarastro resembles Archivist Lindhorst in this regard, and Sarastro also has a female foe, the Queen of the Night, who is Pamina’s mother, comparing to the applemonger, who was Veronika’s wardress. Like the applemonger, the
Libretto of The Magic Flute libretto attracted the admiration of Franz Liszt, who after attending a performance copied down several of them in a personal letter. Ingmar Bergman in his 1975 film of the opera gave special treatment to the didactic poetry by having his characters hoist "a series of placards on which these moral sentiments are carefully lettered." The passage quoted above beginning "Zwei Herzen" has attracted particular admiration: Heartz called it "the loveliest of all the opera's beautiful moments"; Abert wrote of "a paradisal radiance unique in this work". Liszt quoted Schikaneder's verse in his letter and appended, "Amen!". A matter that perturbs