I recently read, for the first time, a short novella by Theodor Storm called Immensee. What a beautiful little story. Like many of Storm’s stories (and many stories by other 19th-century authors), Immensee begins and ends with a frame narrative. In this frame narrative, we see a lonely old man return to his room at the end of the day and sink deep into thought. The bulk of the story, then, is made up of his remembrances–the story of his youthful, tragic love affair with the lovely Elisbeth–until, at the end, we return to the old man sitting alone in his room. This novella might be a bit of a challenge for a beginner because the language is old and somewhat formal, but the short length makes up for that. It is certainly a wonderfully sad, romantic story and is written with grace and beauty. I didn’t quite cry at the end, but I came close!
You can read the story here: http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/3486/1
Erich Kästner (1899-1974) was an author of books for children and for adults. You may know his Konferenz der Tiere or Emil und die Detektive or Das doppelte Lottchen—the model for the movie The Parent Trap! Als ich ein kleiner Junge war is pitched to kids, but it’s a lovely read for anyone. My favorite section is an especially poignant passage about the destruction of Dresden, Kästner’s home town, in World War II. 
