Franz Kafka in Prague

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924), sometimes also František Kafka, his Jewish name Anšel (אנשיל), was a German-writing Bohemian Jewish novelist. He is considered one of the most influential authors of the 20th century in terms of his work. He wrote three novels – Amerika (America), Der Process (The Trial) and Das Schloss (The Castle) – and a number of stories (e.g. die Verwandlung – The Metamorphosis).
He studied law and was employed as an insurance company clerk. He never got married. He was a non-smoker, an abstinent and a vegetarian. He fell ill with tuberculosis. Almost the entire life of his was connected with Prague.
Franz Kafka was born in the Old Town, Prague, as the eldest son of a Jewish haberdashery wholesaler Hermann Kafka and Julie Kafka. The author’s native house called U věže (By the Tower), which was situated in the corner of today’s Maiselova and U radnice streets, was later destroyed by fire. The current name of the adjacent square bears his name, too.
First, Franz Kafka attended the German Boys’ Primary School in Masná Street, then the German State Grammar School in the rear part of the palace of Golz-Kinski in the Old Town’s Square. An important part in Kafka’s life was played by Milena Jesenská, the first translator of his works into Czech.