What exactly is the difference between “von” and “auf”?

Question

My understanding is that they can both be translated "of."

Digging deeper, "von" seems to mean "from." Von Deutschland.

And "auf" seems to mean "out of." Auf dem Land.

Is this correct or not?

Answer 1

As a native speaker it very easy to tell the difference between the prepositions auf and von.

auf

Most of the time when auf is used, it means "on top of" (locally/räumlich). It can either have a "static" meaning ("wo?" – Dativ):

Auf dem Hochhaus sitzt ein Vogel.
Auf meinem Bankkonto herrscht gähnende Leere.
Auf der Hochzeit war es schön.

or it can be used when movement is involved (towards something "wohin?" Akkusativ):

Der Vogel flog auf das Hochhaus.
Der Geldbetrag wurde auf mein Bankkonto überwiesen.
Nach der Ankunft im Hotel ging sie sofort auf ihr Zimmer.

Also, the preposition "auf" is used with some geographic places like islands:

Auf Sizilien gibt es einen Vulkan.

You can find some other meanings of "auf" on the Duden Online page.

von

The primary meaning is from.

Ich habe die Hose von meinem Bruder ausgeliehen.
Ich komme von der Besprechung.

That doesn't mean that "von" is always to translate with "from":

I'm from Germany. → Ich komme aus Deutschland.

"von" also means "of" as in this example:

Das Buch von Goethe liegt dort.

The preposition is also a replacement of the Gentiv case:

Die Geschichte des Peter → Die Geschichte vom Peter.

Here's a complete list of all meanings.

Answer 2

Von can be translated as of, but not in the sense of from as in from a country:

Er ist von adeliger Herkunft. He is of noble descent.

As Mac already said in a comment (thanks for the examples), von can mean from when moving from one place to another:

Ich bin von Deutschland nach Frankreich gezogen. I moved from Germany to France.

Vom Supermarkt kommend muss man links abbiegen. Coming from the supermarket you have to turn left.

But:

Ich komme aus Deutschland. I am from Germany.

However, for the supermarket example, aus could also be used, but it changes meaning. Aus dem Supermarkt kommend means you're coming out of the supermarket. Vom Supermarkt kommend means that you're coming from the supermarket, i.e. from the direction. In this meaning, aus can generally be translated as out of, while von means from. As already said, this is only applicable to movement, not to origin.

Auf is not really a translation of out of. It is a preposition that is used for certain constructs like the Land (countryside):

Er wohnt auf dem Land. Er ist aufs Land gezogen. He lives in the countryside. He moved to the countryside.

It does not mean that someone is from the countryside. Of course, this is somehow implied in this example ;) However, because the countryside is kind of special, being from it is von:

Er ist/kommt vom Land. He is from the countryside.

But:

Er ist/kommt aus der Stadt. He is from the city.

In general, auf means on or on top of.

This related question is about other prepositions. The problem is that prepositions typically don't translate literally, so there is no simple rule which preposition to use for which case.