Exhibition- Franz Kafka
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Jewish author Franz Kafka, born in 1883 in Prague. A Doctor of Law and an insurance officer, Kafka is best known for his literary works, such as the novels "The Castle" and "The Trial," and the novella "The Metamorphosis."
During the First World War, Kafka fell ill with tuberculosis, which gravely affected his vocal cords. Having lost his voice, Kafka increasingly communicated with friends and relatives through letters. He studied Hebrew and even aspired to make Aliya and open a restaurant in the Land of Israel, but his illness brought on his untimely death in an Austrian sanatorium in 1924.
After his death, Kafka’s collection of works and letters was left to his close friend, Max Brod. In his will, Kafka directed that his letters be burned and a great deal of his literary works destroyed, but Brod did not comply and even published some of them.
The Wiener Library collection, alongside his novels, holds a unique collection of press cuttings about Franz Kafka in an array of languages.
