Franz Kafka Museum

Franz Kafka (1883–1924), a Czech writer who wrote in German, is one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. At the heart of his literary, and real, world was Prague – and it is to Kafka and Prague that the exhibition in the Hergertova cihelna (Franz Kafka Museum) in the Lesser Quarter, in the heart of Kafka’s native city, is devoted.

Kafka’s Prague

The exhibition was created in Barcelona in 199 and was the third exhibition, after James Joyce’s Dublin in Ireland and Fernando Pessoa’s Lisbon in Portugal, the third in the series of exhibitions about the cities of world writers. The exhibition has been based in Prague since 2005.

The museum uses pictures, light and music to give visitors an insight into the world of the great writer. Prague is represented as a city full of the mysteries and strange tales that marked the life of the writer. If you think that Kafka’s novels are set in Prague, you’ll find many hints in the museum; though not named, the city may be hidden in all of his works.

In the museum and in front of the museum

Take a look through first editions of the majority of Kafka’s works, correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, drawings and studies from literary researchers. Find out about individual events in Kafka’s life and about the environment that affected his works. There is also a museum shop that naturally offers Kafka’s complete works, as well as biographies.

An unmissable attraction for visitors is the fountain in the courtyard of the Hergetova cihelna, created by artist David Černý, and consisting of two urinating men standing opposite one another above a lake in the shape of the Czech Republic. An electronic device turns their hips and raises their penises in a way that the flow of water traces the letters of several quotes on the water’s surface. The fountain arouses all sorts of emotions – what do you think?