Franz Kafka Square and the house where he was born

Náměstí Franze Kafky (Franz Kafka Square) was created in the year 2000 from part of Radnice St. and links that street with two others, Maislova and Kaprova. The spot was not chosen by chance: it is just there that the house where the legendary writer was born once stood. Though it was knocked down during clearance of the Jewish Quarter in 1897, it is at least recalled by a plaque.

Prague, with all its dark corners, narrow alleyways and historic and vast squares, was always Franz Kafka’s city. The square dedicated to Kafka is neither large nor historic. However, thanks to the personality of the writer born there it is certainly unique and worthy of attention. What’s more, it forms a kind of crossroads at which important streets of Prague’s historic centre intersect. Today we can only admire the house where Kafka was born from photographs. It was built in the first half of the 18^th century for monks running the neighbouring Church of St. Nicholas and only served as a dwelling house from 1816 on. Seventy-seven years later, it was where Franz Kafka took his first breath.