In 1816 E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote the story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse Prince. The story takes place on Christmas Eve with young Marie Stahlbaum’s favourite Christmas toy, the nutcracker comes alive, defeats the evil Mouse King and takes her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls. In 1819 the story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse Prince was adapted into a ballet called The Nutcracker, with music by Tchaikovsky. The ballet is now preformed regularly at Christmas throughout the world.