Der Golem
#9603.82 adjusted 3.83 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1915 Reading commitment Low Gustav Meyrink Last reviewed 2026-11-05
Overview
Der Golem is a novel by the Austrian writer Gustav Meyrink. He wrote it between 1907 and 1914, it ran in the magazine Die Weißen Blätter from December 1913 to August 1914, and it appeared in book form in 1915 from Kurt Wolff in Leipzig. It is set in the Jewish ghetto of Prague, where the gem cutter Athanasius Pernath lives among his neighbours and the old legend of the Golem still haunts the quarter. The story is told through an anonymous narrator whose visions blur dream and reality. It is a standalone novel.
Historical fantasy, Dark fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Der Golem Gustav Meyrink
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Der Golem; Serialised in Die Weißen Blätter from December 1913 to August 1914 before the 1915 book edition. | 1915 | 1 | core | 3.82 (9,784 ratings) |
A gem cutter in the Prague ghetto is drawn into the legend of the Golem in a dreamlike novel of the supernatural.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Der Golem? Der Golem's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Der Golem finished? Complete (1915).
- How much reading does Der Golem take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Der Golem ranked? #960 in this site's official ranking, based on 9,784 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #960?
Ranked #960 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.82 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (9,784 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #959, Operation Chaos (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 1 book · Complete · 10k ratings · Ranks #960 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment historical fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Der Golem and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Drawing of the Dark Historical fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.93
- Gormenghast Dark fantasy / Fantasy of manners · Complete · Low commitment · 3.91
- Mulengro Urban fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.91
- The Shadow Histories Historical fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.90
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.82 across 9,784 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 22 universes from the candidate register; Cursed Bunny ruled out; open synopses for Anna Strong, Allie Beckstrom and Alex Craft accepted 2026-11-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: The Golem (Meyrink) Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Gustav Meyrink Tier 2
- dtv: Der Golem Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-05
Rule: Core Canon = Der Golem (1915). Stand-alone novel; Meyrink's later novels are separate works.