Franz Kafka’s Prague

This year I celebrate 10 years living in Prague, Czech Republic.

So I decided to write a series of posts about Prague.

The posts won’t have any specific order, so pretty random.

Today, we will talk about Kafka’s Prague: where he lived and produced his art.

A couple of words about Kafka. He is one of the most famous Czech writers. Small clarification: he wasn’t particularly Czech, and not exactly a writer. He was an Austro-Hungarian insurance officer. He wrote in German, didn’t publish much, and barely finished his novels. 

Before his death, he asked his friend to destroy his writings. Friend didn’t oblige and published it. Bastard!

Personally, I’ve read 3 of his most famous novels. Here are top-3 Kafka’s novels to my liking.

1. The Metamorphosis. Plot: One lovely morning, a guy turns into a huge bug with no particular reason. His family feels bad for him and tries to adjust. But eventually, everyone feels relieved when the guy dies. Life goes on!

2. Castle. Plot: A guy thinks he’s hired by a Castle as a surveyor. He arrives at a village by the Castle, but the Castle doesn’t want him or anybody else in the village. Then the whole book, a guy walks around the village having long and senseless conversations with everyone, trying to figure out what’s going on. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t. Extremely boring and nonsensical. I could barely finish reading it. That said, Kafka didn’t even finish writing it!

3. The Trial. Plot: One lovely day, a guy finds out he’s charged with a crime. Nobody tells him what particular crime, and what to do. Then the whole book, a guy walks around the city having long and senseless conversations with everyone, trying to figure out what’s going on. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t. Wonderful book! Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but the overall sense of absurdity and all-pervading guilt is very relatable.

Now, let’s go to the places Kafka lived in Prague.

Kafka was born on Franz Kafka Square, 3. What a coincidence!

Kafka was born on Franz Kafka Square

This is the very center of Prague. Seems weird he was writing about depression and absurd having all those beautiful buildings and streets around. These days, people are being born in Cerny most and don’t complain!

Depressing view Kafka absorbed from his childhood

Another one of his addresses was just a block away, near this church. I could only guess he hated it because this place is packed with tourists, bachelor parties, and AirBnBs. No country for locals!

What a boring place to live in

Kafka spent some time living on Golden Lane, right in the center of the Prague Castle. He even put a special sign not to forget.

Postman would never miss

The problem is that to access the Golden Lane, you have to pay 450 Czech crowns to access the street during the day, which makes it pretty inconvenient to live there. I guess that is the reason Kafka left after just a year.

It's not particularly convenient to live on a paid street

Kafka worked for an insurance company. Right in the middle of the Václavské náměstí.

The building is amazing, but did he have a coffee machine in the office? No. Maybe he had a wonderful collective that was more like a family than colleagues? Also, no.

Modern office with a gym and free sandwiches every Tuesday

Finally, when was the last time you spoke kindly to an insurance agent? Exactly. That’s how you get The Trial.

P.S. This post is obviously intended as a joke (though addresses are real).

Kafka is a great writer, and if you want to know about his actual life in Prague, please read this wonderful post from the Goethe Institute.