22 h 10 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does it cost to make music of your own when a whole city expects you to belong?
In Nuremberg, among church spires, narrow lanes and craftsmen, Daniel Nothafft dreams of composing music that is truly his own. But this young musician faces pressure from family and town, while his hunger for love and freedom makes his struggle more than a question of art.
In The Goose Man, Jakob Wassermann asks what a person owes to a community—and what he owes to himself. His patient storytelling gives people and places room to unfold. As feeling builds through detail, Daniel’s pursuit of his gift brings talent and duty into conflict.
What you’ll discover
- A city with expectations Enter a Nuremberg of walls, churches and fountains, shaped by craft and civic pride.
- Music on his own terms Follow Daniel’s wish to compose something his own, whatever the town expects of him.
- The pull of duty Consider where loyalty to a community ends and loyalty to yourself begins.
- Love alongside ambition Discover an artist whose need for love and freedom presses alongside his musical hopes.
- Room for feeling Settle into a slower story that lets people, places and emotions gather weight.
Who will love it
Readers who love big German novels about artists, music and the cost of a calling will feel at home here. So will anyone drawn to old Nuremberg, family secrets and vivid, odd characters.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A weaver hides his savings for his son
- A boy hears music and cannot stop
- Hunger and a plaster mask in Nuremberg
- Two sisters who are opposites
- A collector of other people's misfortunes
- Concerts that end in uproar
- A marriage built on silence
- What the book is really about
- How the story is told and what it uses
Who’s who
- Daniel NothafftA weaver's son from Eschenbach who lives for music and cannot bend to the world, however much it costs him.
- Gertrude JordanA pious, silent young woman who lives apart from other people until music awakens her and she gives herself to Daniel.
- Eleanore JordanGertrude's lively younger sister, cheerful, clear-sighted and brave, who helps Daniel without asking for anything.
- Friedrich BendaA scholar and scientist who befriends Daniel, helps him in need and then sets out for Africa.
- Jason Philip SchimmelweisDaniel's uncle, a boastful bookseller and politician who keeps a secret about the boy's inheritance.
- Philippina SchimmelweisJason Philip's ugly, secretive daughter, who hoards stolen money and fixes her hopes on Daniel.
- Herr CaroviusA wealthy, bitter bachelor who loves music and keeps lists of other people's troubles and offenses.
- Eberhard von AuffenbergA young baron who has broken with his rich family and falls into debt to Carovius.
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read today.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Der Gänsemann
by Jakob Wassermann · 1915
A weaver hides three thousand taler for his son, and a boy hears an organ and refuses to leave.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to readDeutsch
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In short
What happens to a gifted boy in a town where nobody wants music? It follows Daniel Nothafft, a weaver's son from Eschenbach, who is driven to compose and pays dearly for it in hunger, love and quarrels with the world.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A weaver hides his savings for his son
Gottfried Nothafft is a weaver in Eschenbach, a quiet Franconian town where geese graze by the weirs. For ten years he and his wife Marian hope for a child. Then power looms arrive from America, handwoven cloth stops selling, and his hair turns gray in a single winter.
At last a son, Daniel, is born. Gottfried travels to Nuremberg and hands three thousand taler to his brother-in-law, the bookbinder Jason Philip Schimmelweis, to keep for the boy. He even sends back the receipt, trusting a handshake.
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Details
- First published
- 1915
- Language
- Deutsch
- Level
- Challenging
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What is The Goose Man about?
It follows Daniel Nothafft, a weaver's son from Franconia, who gives his life to composing music. The story tracks his poverty, his friendships, his bond with two sisters and the damage his single-minded devotion does to others.
Who is the Goose Man?
He is a real bronze fountain figure in the Nuremberg market, a man with two geese under his arms. Daniel notices his calm, while the townspeople use his likeness to make cruel jokes about the musician.
Is The Goose Man a true story?
No, it is a novel, though the city and its fountain are real. Its story unfolds among Franconian towns and the musical life of the later nineteenth century.
The author
Jakob Wassermann
1873–1934 · German novelist
Jakob Wassermann (1873–1934) was a German novelist born in Fürth, Germany. He lived in Munich, Vienna, and Altaussee, Austria, where he died. His novels include Caspar Hauser (1908), The Goose Man (1915), and The Maurizius Case (1928). He also wrote short fiction and essays.
More by Jakob Wassermann
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