69 moments

1. Born in Prague’s Old Town

   1883-07-03 · U Radnice 5, Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic

   

   Kafka was born in a house near Prague’s former Jewish quarter, beginning a lifelong association with the city’s Old Town. The original building was later demolished; coordinates represent the documented modern address.

2. Moves to Wenceslas Square

   1885-01-01 · Wenceslas Square 56, Prague, Czech Republic

   

   Before Kafka turned two, his family left his birthplace and lived briefly at Wenceslas Square 56. The move occurred during 1885; the building no longer exists and the coordinate is representative.

3. Lives on Dušní Street

   1885-12-01 · Dušní Street, Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic

   

   The Kafka family moved into Prague’s former Jewish ghetto, where Franz spent part of his early childhood. The house was demolished; coordinates represent Dušní Street.

4. Moves to Mikulášská Street

   1887-01-01 · Former Mikulášská Street 6, Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic

   Kafka’s family relocated again within Prague’s Old Town at the end of 1887. The former house and street numbering have not survived; coordinate is representative of Old Town.

5. Lives in the Sixt House

   1888-01-01 · Sixt House, Celetná 2, Prague, Czech Republic

   The family occupied the Sixt House on Celetná Street for less than a year.

6. Attends German boys’ school

   1889-01-01 · Masná Street, Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic

   

   Kafka began formal education at the German boys’ elementary school near Prague’s meat market. The date records the beginning of a documented 1889–1893 attendance period.

7. Settles in the Minute House

   1889-06-01 · Minute House, Old Town Square 2, Prague, Czech Republic

   

   Kafka spent formative childhood years in the Renaissance Minute House on Old Town Square and began school while living there.

8. Enters the Old Town gymnasium

   1893-01-01 · Kinský Palace, Old Town Square, Prague, Czech Republic

   

   Kafka entered the demanding German-language secondary school housed in Kinský Palace.

9. Lives in the House of the Magi

   1896-01-01 · House of the Magi, Celetná 3, Prague, Czech Republic

   

   Kafka’s family moved to Celetná Street, where he lived through secondary school and most of his university years. The source presents this address in its list of Kafka’s places of residence.

10. Summers in Třešť

    1900-01-01 · Třešť, Vysočina Region, Czech Republic

    Kafka stayed with his maternal uncle, country doctor Siegfried Löwy, in the Moravian town of Třešť. The source gives only the summer of 1900, not exact arrival or departure dates.

11. Studies at the German University

    1901-01-01 · German Karl-Ferdinand University, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka began university in Prague, briefly trying chemistry before choosing law and also attending humanities lectures. Coordinates represent the historic university center at the Karolinum.

12. Visits Helgoland

    1901-01-01 · Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

    Kafka’s post-graduation North Sea journey with his uncle also took him to Helgoland. The source does not provide the exact date or duration of the Helgoland visit.

13. Holidays on Norderney

    1901-08-01 · Norderney, Lower Saxony, Germany

    After completing secondary school, the eighteen-year-old Kafka spent most of August on the North Sea island with his uncle Siegfried Löwy. The card uses month precision because the source supports a stay from August 8 through August 28.

14. Considers studying in Munich

    1902-01-01 · Munich, Bavaria, Germany

    Kafka traveled to Munich while considering transferring there to continue German studies, but returned to law in Prague. No exact Munich venue or travel date is supplied.

15. Takes treatment at Weißer Hirsch

    1903-01-01 · Lahmann Sanatorium, Weißer Hirsch, Dresden, Germany

    

    After a state examination, Kafka stayed at the nature-cure sanatorium in Dresden’s Weißer Hirsch district. The source specifies summer 1903 but not exact dates.

16. Recuperates in Zuckmantel

    1905-01-01 · Zlaté Hory, Olomouc Region, Czech Republic

    Kafka spent part of the summer at the Schweinburg sanatorium in the Silesian spa town now called Zlaté Hory. The precise site of the former sanatorium is uncertain; coordinates represent Zlaté Hory.

17. Clerks at Prague’s civil court

    1906-10-01 · Civil Court, Ovocný trh, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka began the compulsory court service required for entry into the civil service. Month precision marks the beginning of the documented six-month placement.

18. Clerks at Prague’s criminal court

    1907-01-01 · Criminal Court, Charles Square, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka completed the latter half of his compulsory legal clerkship at the criminal court on Charles Square. The source supports a 1907 placement but does not state an exact transfer date.

19. Returns to Třešť

    1907-08-01 · Třešť, Vysočina Region, Czech Republic

    Kafka holidayed with his uncle Siegfried Löwy and met Hedwig Weiler, with whom he began a relationship.

20. Joins Assicurazioni Generali

    1907-10-01 · Assicurazioni Generali, Wenceslas Square, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka entered his first full-time insurance position at the company’s Prague branch, but found its long hours hostile to writing. Coordinates represent the documented Wenceslas Square and Jindřišská Street location.

21. Begins work at the Accident Insurance Institute

    1908-01-01 · Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute, Na Poříčí 7, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka joined the institution where he built a respected legal-insurance career while continuing his literary work. Institutional chronologies disagree between July 30 and August 30 for his start, so only year precision is used.

22. Makes first official trip to Děčín

    1908-01-01 · Děčín, Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic

    Kafka’s insurance duties began taking him beyond Prague to industrial districts in northern Bohemia. Tetschen is modern Děčín; the source’s July employment date conflicts with another institutional chronology.

23. Holidays at Riva del Garda

    1909-09-01 · Riva del Garda, Trentino, Italy

    Kafka, Max Brod and Otto Brod spent ten days at Riva during Kafka’s first documented Italian journey.

24. Watches the Brescia air show

    1909-09-11 · Montichiari Airfield, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy

    Kafka attended the pioneering international aviation meeting near Montichiari and transformed the experience into his early reportage The Aeroplanes at Brescia. The air-show attendance is certain; September 11 is supported by contemporary-event chronology but the cited Wikipedia sentence itself does not specify the day.

25. Cuts short a Paris holiday

    1910-10-01 · Paris, France

    

    Kafka traveled to Paris with Max and Otto Brod but illness forced him to return to Prague after about a week.

26. Spends a week in Berlin

    1910-12-01 · Berlin, Germany

    

    Kafka visited Berlin at the end of 1910 after his Paris holiday had been curtailed by illness. No specific Berlin address is supplied.

27. Travels on insurance work to Varnsdorf

    1911-01-01 · Varnsdorf, Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic

    Kafka visited Varnsdorf during the series of northern Bohemian official journeys generated by his insurance work. The source gives only the year and identifies multiple official journeys.

28. Reaches Lugano with Max Brod

    1911-08-30 · Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland

    Kafka and Brod passed through Switzerland during their eighteen-day journey toward Milan and Paris. Presence is supported by a dated postcard catalogued at Lugano.

29. Continues the 1911 journey to Paris

    1911-09-01 · Paris, France

    

    Kafka and Brod extended their journey from Lugano through Milan to Paris, reviving the destination of their failed 1910 holiday.

30. Stays at Erlenbach sanatorium

    1911-09-01 · Erlenbach, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland

    After separating from Brod, Kafka prolonged his holiday with nature-cure treatment beside Lake Zürich. The exact former-sanatorium coordinate is uncertain; coordinates represent Erlenbach.

31. Explores Milan

    1911-09-05 · Milan Cathedral, Milan, Italy

    During his journey with Brod, Kafka visited Milan’s cathedral and climbed to its roof gallery. The diary entry also describes entering Milan Cathedral and ascending its roof.

32. Makes a literary pilgrimage to Weimar

    1912-06-30 · Weimar, Thuringia, Germany

    

    Kafka and Max Brod visited Weimar to explore places associated with Goethe and kept parallel travel diaries. A dated postcard directly places Kafka in Weimar.

33. Takes the Jungborn nature cure

    1912-07-08 · Jungborn Sanatorium site, Stapelburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

    

    Kafka continued alone from Weimar to the unconventional Jungborn sanatorium in the Harz foothills. Coordinates are representative of the former Jungborn grounds near Stapelburg.

34. Meets Felice Bauer at Brod’s home

    1912-08-13 · Max Brod’s home, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka’s first meeting with Felice Bauer began the most extensive correspondence and one of the defining relationships of his life. The precise address of Brod’s home is not established by the cited passage; coordinates represent central Prague.

35. Reads The Judgment publicly

    1912-12-04 · Hotel Europa, Wenceslas Square, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka gave one of his rare public readings, presenting The Judgment at a Prague authors’ evening.

36. Reunites with Felice in Berlin

    1913-03-01 · Berlin, Germany

    

    Kafka traveled to Berlin for his first reunion with Felice Bauer after months of correspondence. The cited chronology gives month but not a precise venue.

37. Returns to Riva for treatment

    1913-09-01 · Dr. von Hartungen Sanatorium, Riva del Garda, Italy

    Kafka ended his northern Italian journey with a three-week stay at Dr. von Hartungen’s sanatorium in Riva. The exact surviving sanatorium-site coordinate is uncertain; coordinates represent Riva del Garda.

38. Attends Vienna’s Zionist congress

    1913-09-08 · Vienna, Austria

    While in Vienna for an occupational safety congress, Kafka attended a session of the Eleventh Zionist Congress. The source is in Dutch; it states that Kafka was present on September 8, 1913.

39. Stops overnight in Trieste

    1913-09-14 · Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy

    Kafka passed through Trieste while traveling alone from Vienna toward Venice, Verona, Lake Garda and Riva. The date and Trieste stop are supported by Kafka travel scholarship; the quoted exhibition text directly establishes Vienna rather than Trieste, so confidence is reduced.

40. Faces the ‘tribunal’ at Askanischer Hof

    1914-07-12 · Former Hotel Askanischer Hof, Askanischer Platz, Berlin, Germany

    

    Kafka’s first engagement to Felice Bauer ended during a confrontation at the Berlin hotel that he experienced as a judicial tribunal. The hotel no longer exists; coordinates represent its documented vicinity.

41. Meets Ernst Weiß in Lübeck

    1914-07-14 · Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

    After leaving Berlin, Kafka met Ernst Weiß in Lübeck and changed his holiday plans to accompany him to Denmark.

42. Recovers at Marielyst

    1914-07-14 · Marielyst, Falster, Denmark

    Kafka stayed at the Danish Baltic resort after his engagement collapsed, bathing at the beach and writing to family and friends. The card date marks the beginning of the documented July 14–26 stay.

43. Stays at the Rumburk sanatorium

    1915-07-01 · Rumburk, Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic

    Kafka sought treatment at the Frankenstein sanatorium in northern Bohemia. The former sanatorium’s exact location is uncertain; coordinates represent Rumburk.

44. Holidays with Felice in Marienbad

    1916-07-01 · Mariánské Lázně, Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka and Felice Bauer took their only shared holiday, temporarily reviving plans to marry. Marienbad is modern Mariánské Lázně.

45. Writes in Golden Lane

    1916-11-01 · House 22, Golden Lane, Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka began using the small house rented by his sister Ottla inside Prague Castle as a quiet evening writing room. This was primarily a writing retreat rather than his sole residence.

46. Reads In the Penal Colony in Munich

    1916-11-10 · Galerie Goltz, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

    

    Kafka made his only public reading outside Prague, presenting the still-unpublished story at Galerie Goltz. Coordinate is representative of Galerie Goltz’s historic central-Munich location.

47. Rents rooms in Schönborn Palace

    1917-03-01 · Schönborn Palace, Tržiště 12, Prague, Czech Republic

    Kafka moved into rooms at Schönborn Palace in Prague’s Lesser Town during the months before tuberculosis transformed his life.

48. Accompanies Felice to Budapest

    1917-07-01 · Budapest, Hungary

    

    During their second engagement, Kafka traveled with Felice Bauer to Budapest, where he also encountered Yiddish actor Jizchak Löwy.

49. Withdraws to Zürau

    1917-09-01 · Siřem, Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic

    

    After his tuberculosis diagnosis, Kafka moved to his sister Ottla’s farm, where he produced the writings later called the Zürau Aphorisms. Coordinates represent Siřem; the exact farm location is not specified.

50. Recuperates in Schelesen

    1918-11-01 · Želízy, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic

    Following influenza and renewed tuberculosis, Kafka went to a pension in Želízy and remained there intermittently into March. The card records the beginning of an intermittent stay extending into 1919.

51. Returns to Želízy and writes Letter to His Father

    1919-11-01 · Želízy, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic

    

    During another stay in Želízy, Kafka composed his long, undelivered Letter to His Father.

52. Takes a cure in Merano

    1920-04-01 · Merano, South Tyrol, Italy

    Kafka began a three-month recuperative stay in Merano while his intense correspondence with Milena Jesenská developed. The date marks the beginning of the approximately three-month stay.

53. Spends several days with Milena in Vienna

    1920-07-01 · Vienna, Austria

    Kafka met Milena Jesenská in person in Vienna during the central emotional relationship of his later life. No specific Vienna address is stated.

54. Meets Milena at Gmünd

    1920-08-01 · Gmünd, Lower Austria, Austria

    Kafka and Milena held a brief meeting at the border town of Gmünd shortly before their relationship receded. The source specifies mid-August but not an exact day or venue.

55. Begins treatment in the High Tatras

    1920-12-01 · Tatranské Matliare, High Tatras, Slovakia

    

    Kafka entered the Matliary sanatorium for an eight-month stay and later befriended medical student Robert Klopstock. The date marks the beginning of a stay continuing through much of 1921.

56. Writes from Matliary

    1921-04-01 · Tatranské Matliare, High Tatras, Slovakia

    

    Still in the High Tatras, Kafka wrote about a small local art exhibition and helped arrange a German-language review.

57. Begins The Castle at Špindlerův Mlýn

    1922-01-27 · Špindlerův Mlýn, Hradec Králové Region, Czech Republic

    

    During a three-week winter stay in the Giant Mountains, Kafka began sustained work on his unfinished novel The Castle.

58. Stays with Ottla in Planá

    1922-06-01 · Planá nad Lužnicí, South Bohemian Region, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka spent roughly three summer months with his sister Ottla in southern Bohemia after his health forced him toward retirement. The date records the beginning of the June–September stay.

59. Meets Dora Diamant at Müritz

    1923-07-01 · Graal-Müritz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

    

    At the Baltic resort Kafka met Dora Diamant, who became his final partner and caregiver. The documented lodging, Haus Glückauf on Strandstraße, no longer exists.

60. Makes a final stay in Želízy

    1923-08-01 · Želízy, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic

    

    Kafka spent several weeks with his sister Ottla before leaving Czechoslovakia to live with Dora in Berlin. Schelesen is modern Želízy.

61. Moves to Berlin-Steglitz

    1923-09-01 · Former Miquelstraße 8, Steglitz, Berlin, Germany

    

    Kafka left Prague to establish an independent household with Dora Diamant and concentrate on writing. The address is now Muthesiusstraße 20/22 and the original house no longer exists.

62. Lives on Grunewaldstraße

    1923-11-01 · Grunewaldstraße 13, Steglitz, Berlin, Germany

    

    Financial pressure forced Kafka and Dora into their second Berlin apartment, where his health worsened during the inflation winter. The address is certain by January 1924; November 1923 is the documented approximate move period.

63. Moves to Berlin-Zehlendorf

    1924-02-01 · Former Heidestraße 25/26, Zehlendorf, Berlin, Germany

    

    Already gravely ill, Kafka was transported by car to the couple’s third Berlin home because he was too weak to assist with the move. The modern address is Busseallee 7–9.

64. Returns to his parents in Prague

    1924-03-17 · Oppelt House, Old Town Square 6, Prague, Czech Republic

    

    Max Brod accompanied the seriously ill Kafka from Berlin to the Oppelt House, where Kafka worked on Josephine the Singer. The address is now generally numbered Old Town Square 5.

65. Enters the Wienerwald sanatorium

    1924-04-01 · Former Wienerwald Sanatorium, Feichtenbach, Pernitz, Austria

    Kafka left Prague for the Austrian sanatorium at Feichtenbach, where doctors confirmed suspected laryngeal tuberculosis. The source gives early April rather than an exact arrival day; the former grounds are not generally accessible.

66. Transferred to Vienna’s laryngology clinic

    1924-04-10 · Former Laryngology Clinic, Vienna General Hospital, Vienna, Austria

    Kafka endured a four-hour open-car journey to Professor Markus Hajek’s clinic, where his condition was judged too weak for surgery. The historic Lazarettgasse clinic building no longer exists; coordinates represent the former General Hospital complex.

67. Moves to Hoffmann’s sanatorium

    1924-04-19 · Hoffmann Sanatorium, Hauptstraße 187, Kierling, Austria

    

    Kafka secured a balcony room in Kierling, where Dora Diamant and later Robert Klopstock cared for him during his final weeks. The historic address was Hauptstraße 71; it is now numbered 187.

68. Makes his last outing

    1924-04-20 · Kierling, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    

    One day after entering the Kierling sanatorium, Kafka made the last documented excursion of his life. The route and destination of the outing are not specified, so the sanatorium-area coordinate is used.

69. Dies at Kierling

    1924-06-03 · Hoffmann Sanatorium, Hauptstraße 187, Kierling, Austria

    

    Kafka died around midday from the effects of laryngeal tuberculosis after continuing to correct A Hunger Artist during his final illness.