Today the name Franz Kafka has become synonymous with the city of Prague. It is impossible to navigate the city without seeing his face inscribed on t-shirts or translations of his writings propped up in bookstore windows. Though it took nearly 80 years to recognize his genius, Kafka works have been recognized as compelling cultural artifacts of Prague and Czechia as a whole. Kafka infused his personal experience, identity, and ideology into his works, employing themes of alienation and absurdity to create a unique commentary of Prague at the time of his writing. In stories such as the Metamorphosis and the Trial, Kafka frames the misgivings of capitalist society and dysfunctional bureaucracy with his distinctly Marxist ideology. Ironically, as Prague fell subject to a communist coup, Kafka’s works were banned, subject to both the erasure of Austro-Hungarian ties and strict political censorship under the communist regime. After forty years of communist leadership, the Velvet Revolution ushered in a new era for Prague of reclaiming cultural artifacts and celebrating triumph over oppression. Thus, Kafka became a symbol for the politically silenced and soon thereafter a symbol for tourists to identify with the city. The commodification of Kafka can be seen throughout the city through museums, statues, and even cafes. The movement to memorialize the works of one man to become representative of a national culture has led to an interesting confrontation of Czech identity. Defining identity is difficult especially considering belonging is socially constructed within a community and that Czechia has been subject to many cultural and national identification shifts. Given Kafka’s significance to the Prague literary space, it is impossible to separate Kafka from the landscape of what is now Czechia. While his status as Czech remains somewhat ambiguous, the celebration of his works gives some indication of acceptance for a man who experienced perpetual alienation.