Kafka Museum 

The Kafka museum was opened in the summer of 2005. It is an experiential museum showcasing transcripts, diary entries, and letters that outline Kafka’s life. The exhibition aims to provide an immersive experience, analyzing Kafka’s portrayal of Prague and “capturing the main conflicts” in the writer’s life.[1] Interestingly enough, Kafka’s struggle as a “minor writer” was largely omitted.[2] All descriptive text on the walls and in showcases were in Czech first with an English translation below. Museum staff indicated that a German translation of the printed museum booklet was available, but information in the main exhibit was largely inaccessible in the language in which Kafka originally wrote. Given Kafka’s contemporary identification as a Czech writer, he has been largely distanced from his Germanness and instead united with the Czech culture from which he would have been alienated during his life. Through the omission of Kafka’s Germanness, Czechia and the city of Prague itself are able to lay claim to the author’s genius, shape his narrative in post socialist Prague, and profit from his popularity through the commodification of his identity and his works.[3] 

Meet Factory 

Founded in 2001 by David Černý, Meet Factory is a non profit art center that encourages collaboration, education, and accessibility of contemporary artists and their art. Meet Factory hosts resident artists that hone their craft, exhibitions of their completed art works, and live performances.[4] Černý is a significant figure in the art scene in Prague as multiple of his unconventional pieces are scattered across the city, making provocative political statements through their absurdity. One particularly political piece never came to fruition, a fountain featuring a robot, a golem, and a beetle. The piece was meant to “remind people that Prague was once a city of three languages."[5] The robot represents the Czech language and the prominent Czech author who first coined the word, Karel Čapek. The Golem figure represents the Yiddish language and the prominent Jewish population in Prague. Finally, the beetle would represent the German language and Kafka’s work the Metamorphosis. Standing in place of this fountain today is the iconic rotating head of Franz Kafka, which glosses over the dichotomy of Kafka simultaneously being recognized as a prominent Czech figure, but representing the presence of the German language which has been largely divorced from the Czech identity. 

Kafka Rotating Head 

The Franz Kafka Rotating Head was designed by David Černý and completed in November of 2014.[6] The artwork was commissioned by the neighboring shopping mall and has succeeded in drawing tourists to the Plaza as it begins its rotation every half hour (Cortes).[7] While the statue’s significance has been interpreted in many ways, including a criticisms of bureaucracy producing mere cogs in machine and the absurdity of the sociopolitical context in which Kafka wrote, however the statue also indisputably represents the commodification of Franz Kafka by the city of Prague for tourism purposes.[8]

Statue of Franz Kafka

The Statue of Franz Kafka was built in December of 2003 by Czech sculptor Jaroslav Róna. It is situated in the heart of Prague’s Jewish Quarter between the Spanish Synagogue and the Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit.[9] The location of this sculpture is significant given that Kafka spent most of his life and authored a majority of his works in the Jewish Quarter. Its placement between religious sites speaks to the social tensions at the time Kafka was writing and the sociopolitical factors that influenced his thematic writings on alienation. The depiction of a man on a headless figure’s shoulders is drawn from one of Kafka’s earlier works Description of a Struggle. Additionally, the figures stand upon the outline of a bug on the ground, paying homage to one of Kafka’s most popular works, the Metamorphosis. While this sculpture provides relevant commentary on Kafka’s struggles and the themes within his writings, it is still yet another example of idolizing an alienated writer as a form of city branding.

Kafka Square

Another attempt to memorialize Kafka can be seen in the initiative to rename the crossroads where he was born to Kafka Square. The official request was supported by the Franz Kafka Society and taken to the city council. The request was initially opposed, ironically in part thanks to bureaucratic processes, but also because the mayor believed that Kafka would not have wanted to be immortalized in this way.[10] It’s true that contemporary efforts to inscribe Kafka’s legacy within Prague’s landscape is quite contrary to what Kafka would have imagined, especially given that half of his works were never to be published and he often expressed a desire to free himself from the confines of the cityscape.[11]

Cafe Louvre

Cafe Louvre first opened its doors in 1902 and became a frequented destination for many celebrated scholars over the years. Shortly after its opening, a German philosophical circle began to meet there, including a young Franz Kafka and Max Brod. They frequented the cafe for almost three years until an exiled Brod and a loyal Kafka cut ties with the group. Though Cafe Louvre has little to do with Kafka’s writings specifically, and he was alienated from the philosophical group that gathered there, a large part of the cafe’s marketing strategy is to capitalize on the historical patronage of various prestigious guests. An entire section of their homepage is dedicated to the history and prestige of the cafe featuring large head shots of Czech playwright Karel Čapek, Albert Einstein, and Franz Kafka himself.[12]

Kafka Hummus Cafe

Kafka Hummus Cafe, previously named Kafka Snob Food, is conveniently located in Prague’s historical Jewish Quarter near the Statue of Franz Kafka and therefore en route for many tourists on their Kafka themed tours of Prague. Unlike Cafe Louvre, Kafka never frequented this establishment, as it opened well after his death, and its Southwest Asian inspired menu has nothing to do with Prague or Kafka himself. It merely bears the famous writer's name to capitalize upon tourist foot traffic.[13]

Charles Bridge

Construction of Charles Bridge began in 1357 under the authority of Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. At the time it was the only connection between Prague Castle and Old Town across the Vltava River. This proved to be a significant trade asset to Prague and encouraged the movement of commodities between Eastern and Western Europe. Even now, Charles Bridge has maintained its role as trading center as the most significant traffic the bridge receives is from tourists, eager to take in the unobstructed view of Prague Castle. In the summer months especially, one can expect to see small vendors scattered along the bridge selling souvenirs and trinkets often featuring the familiar face of Franz Kafka.[14]

Czech literature museum 

The Museum of Czech Literature was established nearly seventy years ago to collect, preserve, and showcase the development of Czech literature. The permanent exhibitions tackle two main themes. First, how can and should literature be displayed. The museum showcases the progression of Czech literature through a wide range of media, from physical transcripts to more experiential audiovisual elements. The second theme present was the examination of Czechness and understanding nationalism. Short video clip playing on the lower floor exhibition features four ladies laughing with layered over narration about their pride in their Czech identity and how that identity is maintained through a shared language. This clip suggests that an integral part of the Czech identity is rooted in the Czech language despite Czechia and Prague itself being the intersection of many languages.[15] This poses another puzzling question: If language is so essential to the Czech identity, then why is the most recognized Czech author German speaking Franz Kafka? Can Kafka be considered the archetype of Czech literature when he wrote in a language that distances himself from the current conception of Czechness? This further shows that the legacy of Kafka is firmly situated in a state of commodification rather than a celebration of Czech identity. 

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