Dative postpositions of Korean were originally derived from lexical words, i.e. nouns, verbs and adverbs. Beside the typical dative functions, the Korean dative markers have developed various other functions such as locative, source, directional, benefactive and malefactive, among others. The Korean dative markers are also used in the passive and causative construction. We now find significant similarities between Korean and German. German dative prepositions originated from lexical words as Korean. They basically have the meanings of source and goal. The German local prepositions are read either as a locative or as a directional depending on the context. It is also interesting that most German free datives find their counterparts in Korean.