“This old crone has claws”: Kafka’s Prague

In today’s episode of our series In Franz Kafka’s Footsteps we are back in Prague to visit places where the famous writer lived, worked and wrote, and also where he spent his free time.

This is how Franz Kafka described Prague to his friend Oskar Pollak. Today, the city has a square, a gallery and a museum named after the famous German-speaking Jewish writer. But his legacy can be found in many other, often unexpected places, such as the Botanical Garden in Troja or the Civic Swimming Pool on the banks of the Vltava River.

In 1907, at the age of 24, Franz Kafka started his first job, which was located in an impressive, neo-Baroque palace on the corner of Wenceslas Square and Vodičkova Street. It was the Prague branch of the Italian insurance company Assicurazioni Generali. Journalist and publicist Judita Matyášová, author of a book called On the Road with Franz Kafka (S Kafkou na cestách), continues:

“This job was arranged for him by one of his uncles through various business contacts. Kafka took it very pragmatically. He was interested in the fact that the company had headquarters in Trieste, by the sea. He decided that if he was industrious enough and learned Italian, he might be sent to the headquarters of this insurance company.”

See the rest here.

Author: Ruth Fraňková