8 h 9 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 9 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Above, the rich play among towers. Below, exhausted workers keep their world alive.
In Thea von Harbou’s Metropolis, Joh Fredersen rules a vast future city like a machine. His son, Freder, lives in comfort until a glimpse of Maria draws him toward the workers’ suffering. When he meets a man near collapse at a machine, he resolves to share the life hidden beneath his own.
Deep in the catacombs, Maria calls for patience and trust in a coming mediator. Elsewhere, the secretive inventor Rotwang carries a grief he cannot leave behind. As Freder crosses the city’s divide, this fast science fiction novel asks what happens when those who plan and those who labour stop seeing each other as human.
What you’ll discover
- A city divided Explore bright pleasure grounds and roaring machine halls, where comfort and exhaustion exist worlds apart.
- A son steps below Follow Freder as he leaves comfort behind to learn what a worker endures.
- Hope in the catacombs Hear Maria speak to workers who gather in secret beneath their own district.
- An inventor’s private grief Enter Rotwang’s strange old house, where brilliant invention meets the pain of loss.
- Power with a human cost Face a stark question about the distance between those who command and those who labour.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love big imaginary cities, stories of rich and poor, and tales of machines, secret tunnels and an inventor's workshop. It also rewards anyone who enjoys musical prose and stories of fathers and sons.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A son of luxury sees his brothers
- The Master's city runs on living food
- Father and son disagree about the machines
- Freder takes Georgi's place at the machine
- Rotwang's house holds an old secret
- Maria tells the story of Babel
- Slim hunts, and a false Maria appears
- The workers rise and the water comes
- Brain, hands and heart is the book's theme
- Light, machines and sacred images tell the tale
Who’s who
- FrederThe privileged, tender-hearted son of Joh Fredersen, who leaves his comfort to find the girl who showed him his brothers.
- MariaA gentle preacher among the workers who tells them to wait for a mediator and to choose peace over revenge.
- Joh FredersenThe Master of Metropolis, a cold, brilliant ruler who wants to keep his city running and his son close.
- RotwangA brilliant inventor in an ancient house, who once loved Hel and now builds a machine woman.
- SlimJoh Fredersen's silent agent, who watches Freder and searches for him when he disappears.
- JosaphatA dismissed secretary who gives his loyalty to Freder and helps him in his darkest hours.
- GeorgiWorker number 11811, who swaps places with Freder at the machine and is tempted by a night in the city.
- GrotThe rough guardian of the Heart machine, who loves his machine and has a fierce temper.
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Metrópolis
by Thea von Harbou · 1925
A rich son swaps clothes with a worker at a machine and follows a girl into a city of the dead beneath Metropolis.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEspañol
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if you saw your own face on every worker who feeds your father's machines? That question drives Freder, the son of the richest man in Metropolis, in this novel by Thea von Harbou.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A son of luxury sees his brothers
The story opens with Freder playing a great organ in a room under painted stars. He is the only son of Joh Fredersen, and he has everything a young man could want. Yet he is near tears, because one face fills his mind.
It belongs to a girl who walked into the Club of the Sons with a procession of gray children. She pointed to the young men and told the children that these were their brothers. Then she pointed to the children and told the young men the same. Her eyes rested on Freder, and then she led the children away.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1925
- Language
- Español
- Reading time
- 5 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Harbou, Thea von. Metropolis. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/metropolis.
Harbou, T. von. (2026). Metropolis. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/metropolis (Original work published 1925)
Harbou, Thea von. Metropolis. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/metropolis.
@book{harbou2026metropolis,
author = {Harbou, Thea von},
title = {Metropolis},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/metropolis},
note = {First published 1925}
}
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What is Metropolis about?
It follows Freder, the son of the ruler of a vast machine city, who sees the suffering of the workers below. He meets a girl named Maria, joins the workers and tries to bridge the gap between rich and poor.
What does the saying about brain, hands and heart mean?
It means that those who plan and those who work cannot understand each other alone. A third force, the heart, meaning care and understanding, must stand between them so the city holds together.
Who is Maria in Metropolis?
Maria is a young woman who preaches patience to the workers in the underground catacombs. She tells them a mediator will come and urges peace. Her gentle faith moves Freder and shapes the book's hopes.
The author
Thea von Harbou
1888–1954 · German screenwriter and novelist
Thea von Harbou (1888–1954) was a German novelist and screenwriter. She was born in Tauperlitz, Bavaria, and died in Berlin. She wrote the novel Metropolis and worked on the screenplay for Fritz Lang’s film of the same name, released in 1927. She also wrote screenplays for other films directed by Lang.
More by Thea von Harbou
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