Hoffmann met Hitler in 1919 and joined the Nazi Party on 6 April 1920. He participated in the Beer Hall Putsch as a photographic correspondent. While the Nazi Party was banned in 1923, Hoffmann joined the ephemeral "Großdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft" then rejoined the Nazi Party in 1925. The following year he co-founded the "Illustrierter Beobachter". In November 1929, he represented the Nazi Party in the district assembly of Upper Bavaria and, from December 1929 to December 1933, he served as a city councillor of Munich. In 1940, Hofmann became a member of the Nazi German Reichstag.