Der Untertan: reading level, length and free edition
Der Untertan by Heinrich Mann is a novel in German. Our team rates it C1. It runs to 130,662 words with 15,552 different word forms, about 11–22 h of reading at 200 to 100 words per minute, and it is free from Project Gutenberg.
- Author
- Heinrich Mann
- Language
- German
- Level
- C1
- Form
- novel
- Words
- 130,662
- Different word forms
- 15,552
- Forms for 95% / 98%
- 9,019 / 12,939
- Reading time
- 11–22 h
- Free edition
- Project Gutenberg
Is Der Untertan right for your level?
To recognise 95% of the running words in Der Untertan, you need its 9,019 most frequent word forms; for 98%, the share at which most readers manage a novel without a dictionary, 12,939. The median German C1 book in our table needs 6,972 forms for 95%, so by this measure the book is harder than most for its level: number 5 of 6, easiest first.
A word form is any spelling that appears in the text, so “walk” and “walked” count twice, and names count too. These numbers are a guide to how much vocabulary the book asks for, not a test. The level itself was set by hand by our team. Before you commit, read one page of the free edition and count the words you do not know: the one-page test takes two minutes.
Which words should you know before you start?
These are the words that Der Untertan uses most often but that are not among the 2,000 most common word forms across all 40 German books in our library; the number is how many times each appears. Names of people and places are left out. Learning a handful of them first makes the opening chapters easier.
- nationalen 44
- nationale 43
- blitzte 33
- behauptete 27
- stammelte 26
- äußerte 24
- seinerseits 24
- national 22
- verkaufen 20
- versicherte 19
- glatt 18
- stramm 17
- bestätigte 16
- verhieß 16
- schnaufte 16
How does it begin?
Diederich Heßling war ein weiches Kind, das am liebsten träumte, sich vor allem fürchtete und viel an den Ohren litt. Ungern verließ er im Winter die warme Stube, im Sommer den engen Garten, der nach den Lumpen der Papierfabrik roch und über dessen Goldregen- und Fliederbäumen das hölzerne Fachwerk der alten Häuser stand.
From the Project Gutenberg edition, which is in the public domain. If this paragraph already feels slow, try a book one level lower.
How long does it take to read?
| Words | 100 wpm | 150 wpm | 200 wpm | 250 wpm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130,662 | 22 h | 15 h | 11 h | 8.5 h |
Learners reading a book at their level often manage 100 to 150 words per minute, and readers in their first language 200 to 250. Where these speeds come from, and a calculator for your own: How long does it take to read a book?
Where can you read it for free?
The free edition is Project Gutenberg eBook #38126. Project Gutenberg publishes books that are in the public domain in the United States, as EPUB, Kindle and plain text, free and without an account. Copyright terms differ by country: if you live outside the United States, check that the book is out of copyright where you are before you download it.
To read it with a translation over every word you tap, open it in Readlang Mobile on iPhone or iPad.
What to read next at C1
German books at the same level that ask for a similar amount of vocabulary:
- Die Wahlverwandtschaften, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: 79,204 words, 6,939 forms for 95%
- Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann: 228,586 words, 13,558 forms for 95%
- Jenseits von Gut und Böse, Friedrich Nietzsche: 57,811 words, 7,006 forms for 95%
- Also sprach Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche: 84,321 words, 5,233 forms for 95%
- Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: 30,693 words, 4,774 forms for 95%
See also all German books by level and books at C1 in all five languages.