Halls without windows, a labyrinth of drawers, old photographs, excerpts of Kafka’s letters, diaries and manuscripts, drawings processed into animation, a red-lit staircase, down which visitors descend. All this creates an oppressive atmosphere reminiscent of Kafka’s novels.
Maze of drawers|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“The place where the exhibition Město K. is located is not directly related to the life of Franz Kafka. It was rather a happy coincidence that we could place the exhibition in this interesting building. The former brickyard is a place that largely allows creating the atmosphere of Franz Kafka’s works – a certain gloom, darkness. Even the method of exposition creates those characteristic labyrinths that appear in the works of Franz Kafka. The labyrinths of the Old Town, where he spent most of his life, and which in their own way terrified and fascinated him. At the same time, Herget’s brick factory is located in a beautiful location, from which you can see the Vltava and the Charles Bridge and its old town opposite.” describes guide Zlatina Novák Jeřábková.
Entrance to the museum|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
The exhibition has two parts. The first, called Existential space, presents the main events of Kafka’s life and the environment in which he lived in Prague. The second one, entitled Imaginary Topography, shows how in Kafka the atmosphere of Prague and his life in it is intricately transformed into a metaphorical image.
Writers, the so-called arconauts, who met in the Arco cafe|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“Everything is connected here. We see his family, friends, a circle of writers from his generation, Jewish German-speaking writers, the so-called arconauts, who met in the Arco cafe. There are videos of what Prague looked like in his time, maps following his journey to work or from home to school. We get to know his girlfriends, his complicated relationships, to better understand his personality.”
Sportsman and vegetarian
The lighter part of the exhibition, as the guide says, is dedicated to Kafka’s interest in the theater and the period when he also became interested in Judaism.
Advertising. Jewish theater performance|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“Kafka went through a phase where he learned Hebrew and wanted to learn more about his Jewish roots. He liked going to the cinema, he liked the theater and operettas. During that period, various companies from Lviv performed in Prague and played in the Yiddish language. Although it was not a language spoken by the local Jewish community, it was comprehensible to Ashkenazi Jews like Kafka, given that it is such a mix.”
Jewish town at the beginning of the 20th century|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
Although Kafka’s family observed the most important Jewish holidays, they were otherwise not strictly religious. Franz even accused his father of being a classic Western Jew. However, as the guide points out, the writer himself later had to admit that he could not identify with Judaism one hundred percent. Kafka’s eating habits were certainly not religiously motivated…
“He became a vegetarian at a very young age. He was afraid of some serious illness. He perceived everything that other people experienced as everyday problems as an existential drama. He felt that because of his inner tension he would get sick and die young. That’s why he did a lot of sports, swam, went jogging, spent a lot of time in nature. And he hoped that becoming a vegetarian would also help him.”
Kafka’s family tree|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
Part of the exhibition “City of K” is dedicated to the women in the writer’s life. Although it is often said about Kafka that he was asexual, Novák Jeřábková reminds us that in the forty years of his life he had several love relationships with women. But he never married any of them.
The Loves of Franz Kafka|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“He had a very complicated relationship with his longtime girlfriend Felice Bauer, who was from Berlin, and it lasted about five years. But they only met seventeen times, although there was already a rail connection between Prague and Berlin. In addition, he apparently started a brief relationship with her best friend Grete Bloch, so he was not a completely faithful partner. He was engaged to Felice twice. From the beginning, she fascinated him with her emancipation and the fact that she worked for a very modern company that produced vinyl records for Odeon Records and voice recorders. Because Kafka was passionate about technology and the latest developments. He later became engaged to Julia Wohryzková. Probably at that time he needed someone less demanding by his side, Julie was more interested in fashion and operettas. He also wrote to his friends that she did not suit him intellectually at all.”
Still, the couple planned to get married. And when Kafka’s father Hermann intervened, the then thirty-six-year-old writer was so upset that he began writing a letter to his father – which was never sent.
Letter to father|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
Inspired by Kafka
In the next part of the exhibition, Zlatina Novák Jeřábková draws attention to objects and documents that remind the writer of his work in an insurance office. According to her, this part of the exhibition best shows how Kafka’s everyday life intertwines with his work.
The first page of the manuscript of the novel The Process|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“It is related to Kafka’s well-known unfinished novel The Process, in which his hero Josef K. goes through the labyrinth of bureaucracy and tries to get information and evidence about whether or not he committed the crime he is accused of. And since Kafka himself had to spend time in an office and was a servant of the bureaucracy, he refers to his daily life. This is also symbolized in the exhibition by the fact that the names stuck on the drawers belong on the one hand to Kafka’s characters and on the other hand to his friends, sisters or relatives.”
A phone in a maze from a drawer symbolizing bureaucracy|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“And here you can pick up the phone and hear the noise there. Kafka didn’t like all the noise in the office, whether it was stamps, or typewriters, telephones, it made him nervous. Finally, he also wrote the short story Big Noise, which in turn was related to the noise produced by the neighbors and the family.”
According to the guide, the interesting thing is that it is the details of this part of the exhibition that fascinate visitors and apparently inspire other artists to produce noise themselves.
“I recently interviewed Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It turned out that he had visited our museum before and was completely fascinated by exactly this part of the exhibition. He pointed out to me that here we probably don’t realize how often various artists are inspired by Franz Kafka.”
Kafka’s drawings|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
It belongs to the school curriculum
The Franz Kafka Museum is one of the most popular in Prague. It was founded in 2005. Czechs initially neglected it – 99 percent of visitors were foreigners. According to the guide, however, that has not been the case for a long time.
Guide Zlatina Novák Jeřábková|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“The older generation’s awareness of Franz Kafka is not that strong. I guess you can see what role the school plays. The previous regime did not wish for similar authors, they were not recommended, they were not part of the school curriculum. So rather, the older generation does not perceive him as a representative of Czech culture, Prague’s cultural environment, even if completely wrongly. Nowadays, however, it already belongs to the curriculum, and you can tell it from young readers. Pupils and students from various Czech schools come here regularly. The museum is already popular among the Czechs. I myself meet people who ask about the museum and show an interest in visiting it,” the guide points out.
According to her, Franz Kafka has never ceased to be relevant. And with what impression should one leave the museum?
Kafka’s last photograph|Photo: Kateřina Ayzpurvit, Radio Prague International
“Kafka should not be one of those authors who are on that unattainable, untouchable pedestal, and seem repulsive. Rather, we should understand his weaknesses. This will help us identify more with his work. Many of his feelings are not completely foreign to all of us. Maybe we suppress them in ourselves, we don’t perceive them, and Kafka is an author through whom we can better know ourselves and better understand what is happening in the world. The exhibition is really designed in such a way that it can help with that,” concludes Zlatina Novák Jeřábková.
The 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death offers the opportunity to look at Kafka’s work and life from current and new perspectives. All events, exhibitions, lectures, literary references can be found on the website Kafka2024 project.
Photo: Kafka 2024
