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German learners who enjoy reading a good book can benefit greatly from reading German literature. Reading books in a foreign language is a natural and fun way of improving vocabulary and phraseology but also learning about the history and culture of the nation whose language you are trying to learn. This is particularly true for book lovers because they can combine their passion for books and reading with learning the German language. It should not be too difficult to find a German author and a genre that suits your taste. Alternatively, you can read the works of your favourite international authors translated into German.
Where to Find Free German eBooks
Finding a good German book is easy and will not cost you a penny if you use web resources offering German eBooks for free download from the Internet. The most common file formats include pdf, txt and plain html as well as epub and mobi (Kindle). Most devices will not have any problems opening the pdf, txt or html files. However, for epub and mobi formats you will need special readers (e.g., Cool Reader for reading epub files and Kindle reader for mobi and azw files; see amazon.de below for more information) that can be downloaded from the web for free to your PC or portable device. Many websites also allow you to read their eBooks online. There are numerous resources on the web that offer thousands of free German eBooks. To help you navigate through these resources we prepared a list of the most popular and convenient websites for downloading free German language eBooks.
The Top 20 Websites for Downloading German eBooks
- Gutenberg.org is a project named after Johannes Gutenberg, the German inventor of movable-type mechanical printing. It is a database of more than fifty-two thousand free downloadable eBooks, many of them in German. You can read the books online or download them in the epub, mobi (supported by the Amazon Kindle reader suitable for mobile devices) or plain html formats.
- Literature.at is a digital library that stores more than sixteen thousand free eBooks with most of them related to Austria and its history. Besides free eBooks, this collection also contains old manuscripts, illustrations, newspapers and magazines. They can be read online or downloaded as pdf files. If you choose any eBook, it will open in your browser. Click on the download icon to save the pdf file to your hard drive.
- Archive.org maintains a global Internet library containing archived copies of over ten million books and texts. There are more than one hundred thousand eBooks in German. Free downloads are available mostly in pdf and epub formats but sometimes also in others. Click on the book you wish to download to open a new view where you can read it online. In the left pane look for the download icon, click on it and choose the format that suit you best. Should there be no download icon on the left, open the left pane by clicking on the ellipses icon first.
- OpenLibrary.org is linked to the Internet archive above as its commercial extension but it also offers more than 1,500 free German language eBooks written by German authors as well as free translations from foreign languages published between 1459 and 2013. Nonetheless, you can find these free works directly in Internet archive. For eBooks that can be read online no registration is necessary. Just open the book to read it online at Internet archive and download it as explained above. Those that cannot be read online can be borrowed but borrowing an eBook requires registration and a small donation.
- Amazon.de has a list of top 100 gratis Kindle eBooks for each book category, most of them being German eBooks. Use the left-hand menu to choose from dozens of available categories. Alternatively, you can use this link for free German literary classics. In order to download and read Kindle eBooks you will need a free customer account with amazon.de as well as a free Kindle reading app that you can download here. There are different Kindle reading apps for desktops, iPods/iPads and smartphones, so you will need to download applications separately to each of your devices.
- SternchenLand.com has more than 5,500 free German eBooks that you can download in the pdf, epub or azw (for Kindle reader) formats. You can read downloaded eBooks virtually on any device including desktop PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones or print out hard copies.
- LoyalBooks.com contains more than 700 free German eBooks and more than 400 free German audio books. Make sure you choose either eBooks or audio books on the top tab. You can read eBooks online in your browser (no need to install anything), or you can download them in either epub or mobi (for Kindle reader) format or even in the plain text format. Likewise, you can listen to the audios online or download zipped mp3 files.
- The Online Books Page is a listing of over three million free literary works from around the world. Several thousand of them are in German. Use an internal search function to search by author or by book title. Once you have found the work you wish to download, click on the title to be redirected to a dedicated library page where you can read it online and download it in a chosen format. Unfortunately, some eBooks are only available to visitors located in the US.
- Zulu-eBooks.com contains nearly 700 free eBooks from German and international authors (all in German language) that can be downloaded for free in either pdf, epub or mobi formats.
- ChildrensBooksForEver.com offers beautifully illustrated children’s stories written by Hans Wilhelm. The author made the out-of-print editions of his books available at his website for free download (pdf format) for non-commercial use (they are now only available from web.archive).
- Freiszene.de is a German-language website where you can not only find free downloads of eBooks but also free audio books, free radio streams and free TV series. To find a desired book, you will have to use the search function of the website and a relevant keyword. This is an aggregator search so for the download you will be usually redirected to another website. Some eBooks are available in PDF format while others as zip file, containing the html version of the book.
- MobileRead.com is an eBook reader forum where you can find thousands of free, mostly English language eBooks. However, there are also around 2,500 eBooks in German language that can be downloaded for free as epub files (some are also available in mobi and pdf formats).
- The digital library Onleihe – when it comes to learning the German language or learning about Germany the Goethe Institute has all you need. The Goethe Institute has more than 23,000 German language eBooks and audio books, newspapers and magazines, movies and other materials for German learners available for free download from the digital library Onleihe. Registration is free. Anyone living outside of Germany can make use of this platform.
- Zeno.org is a growing collection of nearly 2,500 German language eBooks from more than 900 German and international authors listed alphabetically. All eBooks can be read online while many of them are also available for free download in epub format for Kindle reader.
- Digbib.org is a small collection of German eBooks that are available for free download in pdf format. You can find there works from Franz Kafka, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Heine as well William Shakespeare (in German).
- Bloom Library has nearly 24 thousand free eBooks on offer, while 243 of them are in German language. The eBooks can be read online or downloaded to your device in pdf or epub format. Some of the free German eBooks found at this platform are original works, though the majority have been translated into German from other languages.
- ManyBooks.net is an Internet library of books in digital format, having around 650 German eBooks available for free download. They can be downloaded in many different formats, including pdf, or you can read them online if you wish. However, you will either have to register or use your Google account to be able to download files.
- eBook.de is yet another commercial eBook store that also offers free downloads of more than 200 German titles in the epub format. However, you will need to register (it is free) and make a purchase (no payment is required for free eBooks).
- Beam-Shop.de is a commercial eBook shop that also offers around 600 free German eBooks in epub and mobi (Kindle) formats while some are also available as pdfs. However, you will need to register (registration is free) in order to make use of this free offer.
- Vorleser.net is a collection of German language audio books and radio plays available for free download in mp3 format. Some of the audio books are offered in easy-to-understand simple language suitable for German learners. This platform is a little different from others listed above but it was thought that many German learners could find it useful. Unfortunately, the new website (a beta version) is not as user friendly as the old one used to be. An app for all types of mobile devices is available for your convenience, though only a basic version is free of charge.
This is a comprehensive list of relevant Internet resources offering free German eBooks for download to satisfy every taste. If you do not want to bother with registering accounts to be able to download eBooks or installing special eBook readers to view them, there are enough resources that do not require registration and offer familiar formats to choose from. The important thing is to find books that suit your interests while their language is not way above your skill level. Remember, you must have fun reading the book to absorb the language subconsciously.