Deutsch · 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.
11 free advanced stories in German
Each one opens in your browser with no account, the German and the English side by side, paragraph by paragraph, shortest first. Every 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).
DE
Das ovale Porträt
Edgar Allan Poe
The Oval Portrait
C1Edgar Allan Poe · German · 10 min
DE
Das verräterische Herz
Edgar Allan Poe
The Tell-Tale Heart
C1Edgar Allan Poe · German · 15 min
DE
Das Fass Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado
C1Edgar Allan Poe · German · 15 min
DE
Die Maske des Roten Todes
Edgar Allan Poe
The Masque of the Red Death
C1Edgar Allan Poe · German · 15 min
DE
Der berühmte Springfrosch von Calaveras County
Mark Twain
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
C2Mark Twain · German · 15 min
DE
Tobermory
Saki
Tobermory
C1Saki · German · 20 min
DE
Dr. Heideggers Experiment
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment
C1Nathaniel Hawthorne · German · 25 min
DE
Zwischenfall an der Owl Creek Brücke
Ambrose Bierce
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
C1Ambrose Bierce · German · 25 min
DE
Dornröschen
Charles Perrault
The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood
C1Charles Perrault · German · 25 min
DE
Der schwarze Kater
Edgar Allan Poe
The Black Cat
C1Edgar Allan Poe · German · 25 min
DE
Bartleby, der Schreiber
Herman Melville
Bartleby the Scrivener
C2Herman Melville · German · 95 min
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.