Franz Kafka and Prague

While he hardly breaks new ground, Kafka's Prague being one of the most covered territory, this collection of the buildings and places in Kafka's life is highly engaging and beautifully illustrated. The early 20th century map at the front and the modern map of Prague at the back help to easily

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locate the actions of Kafka's life and also improve one's own mental model of Prague. The most surprising factor of Kafka's Prague was its already disappearing Germanic community. The larger and larger Czech community was replacing German street signs and starting to impose its language. After the First World War, Kafka as an AUVA government official had to suddenly shift to writing Czech texts, which Kafka both out of fear and perfectionism had proofread by a Czech mother tongue relative. Kafka's Prague is thus a twice lost city - a loss of both the Jewish and the German community. While modern Prague cashes in on Kafka tourism (represented with two museums!), the city is keen on forgetting its German past. Fortunately, this book preserves one of its aspects.

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