Elementary stories
Original German stories written for this level, with comprehension questions.
Short stories
20 original stories written for this level, each with a comprehension check.
Der falsche Koffer
Back from a trip, Lena opens her suitcase in Hamburg and finds a stranger's wedding dress inside.
Oma Gisela und das Handy
A grandmother in Leipzig gets her first smartphone and uses it in a way nobody expected.
Ein Brief aus Graz
Sophie writes to her sister about her new job in a café in Graz, where she speaks German but understands nothing.
Oma Ruth springt
On her eightieth birthday, Ruth from Bregenz climbs the ten-metre diving tower that she was too scared to jump from at seventeen.
Die Schneemänner von Lienz
Every morning for a week in February, a new snowman appears outside a care home in Lienz, and a 91-year-old resident wants to know who builds them.
Schnee in Zermatt
Anna has a ring in her bag and a romantic plan in the Swiss Alps, but the weather has other ideas.
Tagebuch einer Zimmerpflanze
An orchid in Münster keeps a diary while its owner is on holiday and the neighbour looks after it.
Der Kuchenwettbewerb
A young baker from Hamburg enters a village cake competition in the Allgäu that the same woman has won for twelve years.
Der langsamste Läufer
Office worker Paul, who has never been sporty, decides to run the Cologne Marathon.
Ein Tag als Weihnachtsmann
A student working as Father Christmas in a Nuremberg department store gets a wish he doesn't know how to grant.
Das Wunder im Schaufenster
In July 1954, a whole village in the Palatinate gathers outside the electrician's shop window to watch the World Cup final on the only television in town.
Der ehrliche Roboter
A supermarket in Dresden gets a helpful robot that has one big problem: it always tells the truth.
Eine Woche ohne Handy
Two brothers in Bremen bet on who can last a week without a phone, with their mother as referee.
Falsch verbunden
Katharina dials the wrong number when she orders a pizza in Munich and ends up talking to a stranger for half an hour.
Der älteste Hund im Tierheim
A lonely widower in Kassel goes to the animal shelter to find a small young dog.
Das Gespenst auf der Burg
During a night tour of a castle on the Rhine, a light comes on in the empty tower and strange music begins to play.
Zum Anker
After three weeks of messages, Leonie and Ben arrange to meet for dinner at the restaurant Zum Anker in Bremen, and each waits in vain for the other.
Der erste Auftritt
A young band from Rostock finally plays its first gig, but almost nobody comes.
Das Klavier im Hof
Sarah moves into a third-floor flat in Frankfurt with her late grandfather's old piano.
Eine Postkarte von 1989
A woman in Erfurt receives a postcard that was sent to her in November 1989.