Die Leiden des jungen Werther: reading level, length and free edition
Die Leiden des jungen Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is a novel in letters in German. Our team rates it B2. It runs to 17,730 words with 4,038 different word forms, about 1.5–3 h of reading at 200 to 100 words per minute, and it is free from Project Gutenberg.
- Author
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Language
- German
- Level
- B2
- Form
- novel in letters
- Words
- 17,730
- Different word forms
- 4,038
- Forms for 95% / 98%
- 3,152 / 3,684
- Reading time
- 1.5–3 h
- Free edition
- Project Gutenberg
Briefroman über unglückliche Liebe und jugendliche Verzweiflung.
Is Die Leiden des jungen Werther right for your level?
To recognise 95% of the running words in Die Leiden des jungen Werther, you need its 3,152 most frequent word forms; for 98%, the share at which most readers manage a novel without a dictionary, 3,684. The median German B2 book in our table needs 3,890 forms for 95%, so by this measure the book is easier than most for its level: number 2 of 8, 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 Die Leiden des jungen Werther 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.
- könntest 8
- ältesten 7
- ausdrücken 6
- zugrunde 6
- sitze 6
- glückliche 6
- gefällt 6
- herrlichen 6
- suche 6
- lebhaft 5
- verbergen 5
- genießen 4
- ganzem 4
- unendlichen 4
- gesehn 4
How does it begin?
Credits : This etext was prepared by Michael Pullen with proofreading and correction by Dr. Mary Cicora
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17,730 | 3 h | 2 h | 1.5 h | 1 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 #2407. 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 B2
German books at the same level that ask for a similar amount of vocabulary:
- Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse: 34,470 words, 3,324 forms for 95%
- Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, Joseph von Eichendorff: 31,367 words, 3,478 forms for 95%
- Die Verwandlung, Franz Kafka: 19,175 words, 2,796 forms for 95%
- Der Schimmelreiter, Theodor Storm: 38,362 words, 4,303 forms for 95%
- Deutsche Märchen, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: 88,762 words, 4,444 forms for 95%
- Demian, Hermann Hesse: 47,366 words, 4,677 forms for 95%
See also all German books by level and books at B2 in all five languages.