[14] Hoffmeister is the namesake and lowest-numbered member of the very compact Hoffmeister family (519), which, based upon its low albedo, was most likely formed from the breakup of a 50–100 kilometer-sized, carbon-rich parent body within the past several hundred million years.
[1][13] According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Hoffmeister measures between 22.03 and 25.67 kilometers in diameter, and its surface has a low albedo between 0.03 and 0.05.
[5] In December 2009, a rotational lightcurve of Hoffmeister was obtained from photometric observations by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California.
[12] This minor planet was named in memory of German astronomer Cuno Hoffmeister (1892–1968), who founded the Sonneberg Observatory in 1925, and became one of its directors (see 1039 Sonneberga).
Hoffmeister discovered thousands of variable stars, co-discovered comet C/1959 O1, thoroughly investigated a large number of meteors, and discovered 5 minor planets: 2183 Neufang, 3203 Huth, 3674 Erbisbühl, 4183 Cuno (which was later named after him) and 4724 Brocken.