Conversation so far:
What happened to Hoffmann in the provinces?
and he started to become "what school principals, parsons, uncles, and aunts call dissolute..
Why caused that?
Masovia.
This was the first time he had lived without supervision by members of his family, and.
How did he deal with that?
His first job, at Posen, was endangered after Carnival on Shrove Tuesday 1802, when caricatures of military officers were distributed at a ball.
Did he do the caricatures?
ball.
It was immediately deduced who had drawn them, and complaints were made to authorities in Berlin.
What happened after the complaints?
official.
The problem was solved by "promoting" Hoffmann to Plock in New East Prussia, the former capital of Poland .
What happened once he was promoted?
where administrative offices were relocated from Thorn (Torun).
He visited the place to arrange lodging, before.

Question: before what?
Self-contained rewrite: Hoffman visited the place to arrange lodging before what?