Characters
Note: The Muir translations refer to the Herrenhof Inn where the Harman translations translate this to the Gentleman's Inn. Below all references to the inn where the officials stay in the village is the Herrenhof Inn since this was the first, and potentially more widely read, translation.
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
| K., the Land-Surveyor | The protagonist of the story, recognized as a land surveyor, employed as the school janitor, and a stranger to the townspeople. He spends most of the novel trying to overcome the bureaucracy of the village and to contact the castle official Klamm. |
| Frieda | A former barmaid at the Herrenhof, who is K.'s fiancée for most of the novel. She often finds herself torn between her duty to K. and her fears regarding his over-zealousness. She eventually leaves K. and ends up in the arms of his former assistant, Jeremiah (who has since become a waiter at the Herrenhof). |
| Hans, landlord (Bridge Inn) |
Nephew of the original owner of the inn. According to his wife, Gardena, he is lazy and overly nice to K. |
| Gardena, landlady (Bridge Inn) |
The self-proclaimed firebrand of the Bridge Inn she is a former short-term mistress to Klamm and very distrustful of K.'s motives. She remains infatuated with Klamm. |
| Barnabas, a messenger | A messenger of the castle assigned to K. He is new to the service. K. is instructed to use him to communicate with the official Klamm. He is very immature and sensitive. |
| Arthur and Jeremiah, K's assistants (Artur and Jeremias in Harman edition) |
Shortly after his arrival in the village, K. is given two assistants to help him with his various needs. They are a continual source of frustration for him, however, and he eventually drives them from his service through his brutal treatment. They have been assigned to K., to make him happy, by the official Galater who was deputizing for Klamm at the time. |
| Mayor/Superintendent (Village Council Chairman in Harman edition) |
Assigned by Klamm to give K. his assignment and hence is his superior. He explains to K. why he is not needed as a land surveyor. He offers K. the job of school janitor to the dismay of the Teacher. |
| Mizzi, the mayor's wife | The wife and assistant of the Mayor, Gardena refers to her as the one who does the work. |
| Klamm | An elusive castle official who is K.'s Castle Authority. Like the other Castle officials in the book, his actual area of expertise is never mentioned. K. spends a large portion of the novel trying to secure a meeting with Klamm. K., it seems, fixes many of his hopes for a successful resolution to his problems upon this meeting with Klamm. He has at least two secretaries—Erlanger (First Secretary) and Momus.
In Czech (and Kafka was able to speak and read/write Czech) "klam" means "illusion." In Praha Prague the Clam-Gallas Palace is of the same sound and may have influenced Kafka to use this multiple meaning of the Clam-Klamm Clam-Gallas Palace (Prague) and Eduard Clam-Gallas |
| Momus, Klamm's secretary | Handles all written work for and receives all petitions to Klamm. He is also secretary for Vallabne, who is not mentioned again in the novel. |
| Erlanger, Klamm's secretary | The First Secretary of Klamm who is sent to "interrogate" K, but only gives him a short message. |
| Olga, Barnabas' sister | The older sister of Amalia and Barnabas. She helps K. on his quest, partly by telling him the story of why her family is considered outcasts and by teaching him some of the village customs. |
| Amalia, Barnabas' sister | Younger sister of Barnabas and Olga. She was disgraced in the village after rudely turning down a summons from the castle official Sortini for sexual favors. |
| Barnabas' Father | The father of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas. Past village cobbler and notable fireman. After Amalia's disgraceful interactions with Sortini's messenger, his business is ruined and he is stripped of his fire credentials |
| Barnabas' Mother | The mother of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas. |
| Otto Brunswick, son-in-law of Lasemann (brother-in-law of Lasemann in Harman edition) |
Hans Brunswick's father. Opportunistically takes over Barnabas' father's customers as the Barnabas family falls into disrepute from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger. According to the Mayor, Brunswick was the only person in the village that desired that a land surveyor be hired. No reason for this is given. |
| Frau Brunswick | Hans Brunswick's Mother. She refers to herself as "from the castle" and is the only reference to a female at the castle. |
| Hans, a sympathetic Student | A student at the school where K is a janitor. Offers to help K and K uses him to attempt to find ways to get to the castle through his mother. |
| Herrenhof Landlord | Landlord of the Herrenhof Inn. |
| Herrenhof Landlady | Well dressed landlady at the Herrenhof Inn. Seems to be the matriarch of the Inn (as is Gardena at the Bridge Inn). Is distrustful of K. |
| Galater | He is the castle official that assigned the assistants to K. He was also "rescued" by Barnabas' father in a minor fire at the Herrenhof Inn. |
| Brügel (Bürgel in Harman edition) |
A Secretary of a castle official, Friedrich. Friedrich is not mentioned again in the book, but in deleted text is referred to as an official who is falling out of favor. Brügel is a long winded secretary who muses about Castle interrogations with K, when the latter errantly enters his room at the Herrenhof Inn. |
| Sordini | Castle secretary who exhaustively manages any transactions at the castle for his department and is suspicious of any potential error. |
| Sortini | Castle official associated with the village fire brigade who solicits Amalia with a sexually explicit and rude request to come to his room at the Herrenhof. |
| Teacher | When K. becomes the janitor at the school, the teacher becomes K.'s de facto superior. He does not approve of K. working at the school, but does not appear to have the authority to terminate K's appointment. |
| Miss Gisa, the school mistress | The assistant school teacher who is courted by Schwarzer and also dislikes K. |
| Schwarzer | An under-castellan's son who appears to have given up living in the castle to court Miss Gisa and become her student teacher. |
| Pepi | A former chamber maid who is promoted to Frieda's barmaid position when the latter leaves her position at the Herrenhoff to live with K. She was a chambermaid with Emilie and Hennriette |
| Lasemann, a tanner, father-in-law of Otto Brunswick (brother-in-law of Otto Brunswick in Harman edition) |
The village tanner that offers a few hours shelter to K. during on his first full day in the village. |
| Gerstacker, a Coachman | Initially suspicious of K. but gives him a free sleigh back to the Bridge Inn after refusing to provide a ride to the castle. At the end of the book attempts to befriend K. since he believes K. has clout with Erlanger. |
| Seemann, the Fire Company chief | The fire chief that strips Barnabas' father of his fireman diploma after Barnabas' family falls into shame from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger. |
Read more about this topic: The Castle (novel)
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