- Address: Cihelná 635 / 2b, 118 00 Malá Strana, Czech Republic
- Phone: +420 257 535 373
- Website: kafkamuseum.cz
- Working hours: daily 10: 00-18: 00
- Date of foundation: 2005.
Prague is an amazing city, at the same time refined and squat, lively and painful, joyful and depressing. The same double attitude towards him was felt by the famous writer Franz Kafka, who at the same time loved and hated his native city. Tourists should visit the Kafka Museum in Prague to learn about the life not only of the prose writer himself, but also about the capital of the Czech Republic as a whole.
History of the Kafka Museum in Prague
Originally a collection of books, manuscripts and other personal belongings by a Czech writer was presented in 1999 at an exhibition in Barcelona. She was part of a series of events called "Cities and their Writers", organized by the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona João Insua. Specifically, this exhibition was called "Franz Kafka and Prague." In 2002, the collection was presented in New York. Only since 2005, she settled in Prague, where she received the name of the museum of Franz Kafka.
Under the cultural center was allocated a long squat building, which once housed a brick factory Gergeta. Looking at the map, you can see that the Kafka Museum in Prague is located almost under the Charles Bridge on the low bank of the Vltava River.
Exposition of the Kafka Museum
Directly at the entrance to the cultural center is a provocative sculptural composition depicting two bronze men who urinate on the map of the Czech Republic. The author of this fountain is David Cherny. Sculptures are equipped with a complex mechanism that rotates the figures in such a way that the streams outline the letters from the quotes on the water.
The museum collection of Franz Kafka in Prague is divided into two sections:
- Existential space;
- Imaginary topography.
The first section is devoted to the influence of Prague on the development of the writer. About how she shaped his life, you can learn from the numerous quotes and works. In this exposition of the museum of Kafka in Prague are exhibited:
- personal correspondence of the writer;
- photos of family members, friends and girlfriends;
- drafts of famous works;
- first publications.
During the tour, visitors are shown a documentary about the Czech capital. It's not even a film, but rather an allegory. It reflects what the writer saw Prague: she is friendly and hospitable, she is ferocious and unfriendly. This film will be a real revelation for those tourists who think that they thoroughly studied the city.
The second part of the Franz Kafka museum in Prague is devoted to the writer's work. In his works he does not indicate specific Prague sights , but artistically describes them. The visitor needs to put himself in the place of the great Prague and guess in the novels and stories Charles Bridge, Old Prague or St. Vitus Cathedral .
For this department of the museum were prepared three-dimensional artifacts and audio recordings of Kafka's works, among them "Court", "Process", "America" and others. In Kafka's museum in Prague there is a bookstore where you can buy the writer's works.
How to get to the Kafka Museum?
The cultural center, dedicated to the life and work of the prose writer, is located in the north-west of the Czech capital. Judging by the address of the Kafka Museum in Prague, it is located on the right bank of the Vltava River less than 200 meters from the Charles Bridge. From the center and other areas of the capital, you can reach it by metro or tram. At 350 meters from it there is the Malostranska metro station, which belongs to line A. Here is the same tram stop, which can be reached by routes Nos. 2, 11, 22, 97, etc.
The Kafka Museum in Prague is run by the roads Wilsonova, Nábřeží Edvarda Beneše, Italská and Žitná.