The Castle characters

Appears from the start

A land surveyor who arrives in a snowbound village claiming that the Castle has engaged him. Persistent and suspicious, he treats contradictory telephone messages as confirmation of his appointment and sets out to secure recognition of his position.

Appears from the start

A young villager who challenges K.'s right to stay at the inn and telephones the Castle to verify his claim. He presents himself as the son of a castle warden and treats the village as subject to castle permission.

First appears in chapter 2

A young messenger assigned to carry communications between K. and the Castle. His bright, open appearance makes him seem unusually accessible, although neither K. nor the villagers can define how much official standing he possesses.

First appears in chapter 2

Barnabas's older sister, who welcomes K. into the family's home and speaks to him with sympathy. At her introduction she appears more socially confident and communicative than her sister Amalia.

First appears in chapter 2

Barnabas and Olga's younger sister. She is reserved, grave, and strikingly self-possessed when K. first visits their household, whose position in the village he does not yet understand.

First appears in chapter 2

One of the two assistants sent to K. by the Castle. K. cannot distinguish his supposed helpers easily and doubts that they know anything about surveying, but they attach themselves to him with intrusive cheerfulness.

First appears in chapter 2

The second of K.'s nearly interchangeable castle-appointed assistants. His clownish familiarity and refusal to respect privacy make his presence as much an obstacle as an aid.

First appears in chapter 3

A barmaid at the Herrenhof Inn who has privileged access to the senior official Klamm. She helps K. observe him, then abruptly declares her attachment to K. and leaves her position to join him.

First appears in chapter 3

A high castle official whose authority dominates village life. K. glimpses him only indirectly at the Herrenhof, while Frieda's connection to him makes K. believe she may provide a route toward official recognition.

Also known as Gardena

First appears in chapter 4

The landlady of the Bridge Inn. Protective of Frieda and deeply reverent toward Klamm, she challenges K.'s confidence that he can use ordinary persistence or personal connections to reach a castle official.

Also known as The Mayor

First appears in chapter 5

The village official who investigates K.'s supposed appointment. Surrounded by disordered files and assisted by his wife, he explains how contradictory castle messages can create an administrative error without producing any official responsibility for it.

Appears from the start

The village schoolmaster, whom K. encounters while trying to approach the Castle. He is an authoritarian local figure and doubts K.'s claim to have been appointed as a surveyor.

First appears in chapter 9

Klamm's village secretary, who attempts to take an official statement from K. at the Herrenhof. He treats the interrogation as an opportunity K. should value, while K. rejects a procedure that cannot guarantee access to Klamm.

First appears in chapter 13

A schoolboy who seeks K.'s help for his ailing mother and speaks of his influential father. K. sees the child's family connection as another possible line of approach to the Castle.

First appears in chapter 18

A castle secretary whom K. encounters during a night of official interviews at the Herrenhof. From his bedroom he explains that an applicant's accidental access to an official at an unusual hour can create a rare opening in the system.