German · English · C1–C2

Advanced German stories, with the English alongside (C1–C2)

Poe, Bierce, Hawthorne, Melville and Twain in German: dense, stylish prose, with the English original there for the sentences worth a second look.

32 advanced stories in German, 27 of them free

Each one opens in your browser with no account, the German and the English side by side, paragraph by paragraph, shortest first. Every free story is also a free German–English ebook for Kindle, Kobo or any e-reader: downloading needs a free account, no payment (which file to pick).

Besides the classics, this level has stories from Die Nachtbäckerei, original German stories written for the library.

Open the advanced German–English stories in the library, where you can search them and switch to another level or pair.

To listen as you read, see the German stories with audio.

What advanced German stories are like

Advanced stories are dense on purpose: Poe’s narrators circle their own guilt, Bierce bends time, Melville’s Bartleby prefers not to. The German carries that style with long sentences, rare words and a literary register.

At this level you rarely need the English for the plot. It is there for the phrases that are hard to pin down, and for comparing how the same effect is achieved in two languages.

How to read German at C1–C2

Read the German as literature

Read at your normal pace and let unfamiliar words go when the meaning is clear. Stop only where the style or a turn of phrase interests you.

Use the English for nuance

When a word could mean two things, the English shows which one the story needs. That is where advanced readers still learn the most.

Read aloud

Literary German has rhythm. Reading a paragraph aloud, then checking its English, trains your ear as well as your eye.

More on the method in how to read a parallel text.