Even if you have never heard about Kafka and have never read one of his books, you will surely notice his presence while visiting Prague. T-shirts, posters and mugs carrying the writer's image are available at every souvenir shop across Prague. Places named after him include Kafka Square, Kafka Museum, Kafka Café and Kafka House at Golden Lane - that is the never-dying presence of Franz Kafka in Prague.

"This little mother has claws." Franz Kafka spent most of his life in Prague, even though he always felt like a stranger there - a German speaking Jew in a predominately Czech Catholic town. Consequently, there are many sites in Prague that are of some interest to fans of Kafka's work. Klaus Wagenbach's little "Travel Reader" highlights most of these sites (e.g., the writer's birthplace, all the Kafka family residences around Old Town Square, Kafka's apartment in the castle, etc.). If you're headed to Prague, you could easily spend half a day retracing Kafka's footsteps with this guide. The book includes a map and numerous photographs of the city as it appeared about 100 years ago so you can contrast today's Prague with the Prague Kafka new. It also includes some short excerpts from Kafka's works, mostly vignettes like the haunting "An Imperial Edict", included next to the sections on the buildings where Kafka lived.

I lived in Prague myself for a month this summer and frequently took this book along with me on my evening jaunts through town. The selections from the writer's work included here helped add personal and emotional meaning to what otherwise might have been just a bunch of buildings.

Franz Kafka's Statue

Non-traditional bronze statue, 3.75m tall, weighs 800 kg. The sculptor Jaroslav Róna found his inspiration in one of Kafka's short stories - "Description of a Struggle". David Vávra is the co-creator of the architectural placement of the statue. The statue was unveiled on 4 December 2003. Location: Prague 1, Dušní ulice a Vězeňská.