Franz Kafka Museum: Prague Through the Kafka’s Perception

Franz Kafka is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable authors from Prague. Although he barely mentioned Prague in his novels, the places and his inner feelings aptly depict the atmosphere of Prague on the crossroad of two centuries. Franz Kafka Museum is actively working with this concept and pull you in the inner world of this exceptional man.

Visit the Museum of Franz Kafka

When you enter the courtyard of the museum, you might be surprised by a strange sculpture of two men urinating on the lake in the shape of the Czech Republic. This fountain is a piece of our controversial artist David Černý, and it has no connection with Franz Kafka.

The idea to dedicate a museum to Franz Kafka was initially born in Barcelona in 1999 when the exhibition “City of K” portrayed the relationship between the author and the city. The exhibition then moved to the Jewish Museum in New York in 2002 and finally found its home in Prague at Hergetova Cihelna (Herget Brickworks) in 2005. It was updated about new findings and video displays, so you can get the most renewed experience ever.

The museum portrait the pieces of the Kafka’s life. You can learn more about his personal life and take a look at his private correspondence, diaries, photographs, and drawings that have never been displayed before. You can learn more about his Jewish roots, Prague’s intellectual life, about his relationship with women and travels out of Bohemian lands.

The most interesting feature of the whole exhibition is the relationship of Kafka with Prague. In his novels, he never explicitly noted Prague as the scene of his stories. However, the city is an essential element in most of his books. For example, the anonymous cathedral in The Trial suppose to be the St. Vitus Cathedral, his path across the bridge suppose to be the Charles Bridge and the city itself the Lesser Town of the Prague. The city is no recognizable in his stories, but he rather portrays the atmosphere of offices, churches, prison or castle. Museum will take you for a tour to the inner world of this great writer and elevate your experience by specific light, music, and visual experience.

Pieces of Franz Kafka’s Life

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) spent the majority of his life in the historical center of Prague, just around the Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, and its churches. Kafka was bilingual in Czech and German, but he wrote his pieces only in German. Shortly before his death, he asked his friend Max Brod to burn all his writing. Fortunately, Brod did not follow the instructions of his friend, took the manuscripts to Palestine and start to publish them.

I am not going to describe the whole life story of Franz Kafka since I would not be able to capture all the exciting pieces of his short life. However, I would like to mention that his life was not so depressive as his writing. You can even imagine Kafka’s life as cheerful when traveling around Europe, enjoying time within the intellectual circle of his friends, spending time in the Czech countryside and having numerous and profound relations with women. Kafka is a man of many faces, and it is worthwhile to learn more about his life and view of the world.

How to get to the Franz Kafka Museum

Before you enter the museum, you need to buy tickets in a museum shop that is just a few meters from the entrance to the museum. Find the Museum shop at Cihelna street and then enter the courtyard with the sculpture of two urinating men. In the museum shop itself, you can find Kafka’s complete works in several languages, his biographies, and numerous souvenirs.

The easiest way is to take the metro (green line) or tram to Malostranská and walk about 10 minutes direction to Kampa Island. Nearby, you can find a cozy café Cocovanka, that I can highly recommend as well.