German Literature

Unsuccessful in his endeavours, the young and naive Peter Schlemihl seals a pact with the Devil in which he exchanges his shadow for the purse of Fortunatus, thereby gaining everlasting riches. But when he is ridiculed, persecuted and hated for...
By: Adelbert von Chamisso

Presented as a collection of confessional letters written by the eponymous protagonist, The Sorrows of Young Werther charts the emotional journey of a young man who, during a stay in a picturesque German village, falls in love with Lotte, a local...
By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A romantic tale of an old man reminiscing about his youth and unfulfilled love, Immensee is considered by many to be Theodor Storm’s most accomplished work, evoking a reality which is veiled and haunted by dreams and illusion. This volume, which...
By: Theodor Storm

After one of their own people repeatedly fails to live up to a pact with the Devil, a petty and morally bankrupt village community is plagued by a swarm of deadly black spiders. Using a complex narrative structure, Gotthelf’s cautionary novella...
By: Jeremias Gotthelf

Happily engaged to the poet Amandus, Fräulein Anna is horrified to discover that a beautiful ring, mysteriously deposited upon her finger whilst tending her kitchen garden, forces her into marriage with the gnome Corduanspitz. Can Anna find any way...
By: E.T.A. Hoffman

Baron Eduard and his second wife Charlotte enjoy a quiet, humdrum existence in their opulent castle, but when he invites his friend the Captain and she invites her niece Ottilie to stay with them, their lives are turned inside out as both hosts...
By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The son of a heinous sinner, Medardus is brought up in a monastery to atone for his father’s wicked ways. However, after succumbing to temptation, Medardus himself is lured into a life of sin. A labyrinthine plot sees him embarking on a fantastical...
By: E.T.A. Hoffman

A Village Romeo and Juliet is a bitter-sweet tragedy telling the tale of two young lovers kept apart by a family feud. Inspired by the suicides of two real-life sweethearts and set in rural Switzerland, it evokes the overwhelming beauty of young...
By: Gottfried Keller

Set against the strikingly beautiful backdrop of the Vosges mountains, Lenz tells the tale of the real-life writer J.M.R. Lenz’s nineteen-day stay in Waldersbach in 1778, describing his wanderings around the mountainous surroundings and his...
By: Georg Büchner