Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil: reading level, length and free edition
Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is a play in verse in German. Our team rates it C1. It runs to 30,693 words with 6,308 different word forms, about 2.5–5 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
- C1
- Form
- play in verse
- Words
- 30,693
- Different word forms
- 6,308
- Forms for 95% / 98%
- 4,774 / 5,695
- Reading time
- 2.5–5 h
- Free edition
- Project Gutenberg
Is Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil right for your level?
To recognise 95% of the running words in Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil, you need its 4,774 most frequent word forms; for 98%, the share at which most readers manage a novel without a dictionary, 5,695. The median German C1 book in our table needs 6,972 forms for 95%, so by this measure the book is easier than most for its level: number 1 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 Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil 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.
- geschehn 18
- singt 16
- faßt 15
- drängt 13
- dran 13
- fühl 12
- gebt 10
- möcht 10
- steigt 9
- führe 9
- eurem 9
- werd 9
- hatt 9
- dringt 8
- regt 8
How does it begin?
Ihr naht euch wieder, schwankende Gestalten, Die früh sich einst dem trüben Blick gezeigt. Versuch ich wohl, euch diesmal festzuhalten? Fühl ich mein Herz noch jenem Wahn geneigt? Ihr drängt euch zu! nun gut, so mögt ihr walten, Wie ihr aus Dunst und Nebel um mich steigt; Mein Busen fühlt sich jugendlich erschüttert Vom Zauberhauch, der euren Zug umwittert.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30,693 | 5 h | 3.5 h | 2.5 h | 2 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 #2229. 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:
- Also sprach Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche: 84,321 words, 5,233 forms for 95%
- Die Wahlverwandtschaften, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: 79,204 words, 6,939 forms for 95%
- Jenseits von Gut und Böse, Friedrich Nietzsche: 57,811 words, 7,006 forms for 95%
- Der Untertan, Heinrich Mann: 130,662 words, 9,019 forms for 95%
- Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann: 228,586 words, 13,558 forms for 95%
See also all German books by level and books at C1 in all five languages.