“Die Leiden des jungen Werther” (= The Sorrows of Young Werther) is probably one of the most famous works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1774. The book is a collection of letters which the protagonist Werther writes to his friend Wilhelm. Werther, a very emotional and sensitive young man, falls deeply in love with Lotte. But Lotte is already engaged to Albert and Werther suffers from bad heartache….

A very interesting fact about Werther’s story is that it had a massive impact on the culture at that time. People identified so much with Werther that they started to dress like him. It even led to some examples of copycat suicide! This phenomenon is known as “das Werther-Fieber” (the Werther fever).

The reason I’m posting this is, that I read the book again today. And I also found this free audio book in German, which you can listen to online. Just to warn you - it’s difficult to understand, because of the old poetic language. However, maybe some of you would like to give it a shot. CLICK