Kafka Museum

The Kafka Museum is fascinating and well curated. It gives a deep insight into Kafka’s life and works, with interesting exhibits and a unique atmosphere. The displays are creative and engaging, making it a memorable experience for anyone interested in literature or Prague’s history. Highly recommended for a thoughtful and intriguing visit.

Museum of Franz Kafka in Prague. The museum showed his life and stories in a relative story-telling way and the entire exhibition was fine but not that surprising. If you are not a fan of him, there’s no need to visit. The ticket prices were a bit high considering the exhibition presented. The fountain in front of the museum was currently under construction and did not work.

Nice, small museum. Original letters, background to his family and insights in his ideas. You get a 15% discount with the Prague pass. Normal entrance fee is 300. There is a shop and cafe, including outside seating.

I fear my love for Kafka might not make this review entirely objective but I’ll try anyway . The museum was good. Even though I found the exposition a little bit underwhelming I still loved every second of it. The souvenir shop was my favorite part, if I could I would’ve bought the entire shop. Kafka is one of my favorite authors ever so this place was on top of my list. Can’t wait to go back!

For the live of Kafka me and my wife decided to go to this museum. It was quite informative and atmospheric, it is not a biggest museum so it will not take much time but if you like Kafka it will be quite interesting for you. Oh and when they are closing you better leave the place by your good will, or they will shout at you.

Nice visit. Price was a bit expensive. Exhibition was interesting. Not crowded. Bought ticket online, but there was no wait to get tickrts on site.Very dark inside, so be carefule when walking through. Could spend about 2 hours here if reading all the information. I did an hour, but learned some interesting things about the subject. I think most come to simply see the 2 men pissing contest ststue out front.

If the entrance were free it would have been okay. This museum misses a lot of its potential because it attempts to paint Kafka as a very mysterious person. There actually is a lot of information about Kafka, but I wish the museum would have prepared this in a more engaging way. The atmosphere is quite dark and gloomy. There is only one bathroom and the lock doesn’t work.

I was quite disappointed to be honest. The museum is located under the rooftop of an old brickwork building. It explores Kafka‘s life and work in timelines and a replicas of pictures and tries to put it into the context of time. I am not aware that there is some further source of information available (such as audio guide), so I feel if you don’t know anything about the life and times of Kafka, you‘ll leave not much wiser. The area and building komplex is nice, so I‘ll still recommend it, if you want to explore more in that part of Prague having a beverage in the cafe or some gingerbread from the cute little gingerbread shop across the yard. The museums shop though is well curated and maybe getting one of Kafka‘s works there will open the door to his world.

This is a great museum for fans of Kafka. I enjoyed learning more about his life and what times were like in Prague when he was alive. I read Metamorphosis years ago; but now I have a newfound zeal about reading some more of his work. It seemed like the layout of the museum was intentional because it was not the easiest to get around......much like Kafka's life. If you think you cannot find a good vintage copy of one his books in Prague; try one of the Antikvariat stores. I found a pretty nice one in Czech from 1968.

Kafka is one of my favorite authors so I had to go here. The museum has a lot of information on his life including original hand written papers and diary entries. I'm learned a lot about his life and what the city was like back then.

Writers will like it here. If you're a "typical tourist" checking off boxes in your guidebook, knowing very little about the writer, then you probably won't like it here. I can see why a lot of the reviews waiver, including my own. Of course Prague has to have a museum dedicated to Franz Kafka, who is from the city. The museum is somewhat unsettling in terms of its layout, and presentation, which suits the writer very well. Even having said that, I feel as though there could be slightly more attention to the layout in terms of ease of navigation. It was not very crowded when I was there, but it still felt as though people were struggling to get around each other at times. Though I understand why, it was slightly disappointing that an overwhelming amount of the items on display were facsimiles. I love looking at writers' handwriting and seeing how ink falls onto old pages. But the reproductions were average scans and basic printouts. Even a slight bump in quality could go a long way. Still, overall, there was no way that I was going to pass this up during my time in Prague. It's worthwhile if you've ever read and enjoyed Kafka.

Cool art outside. My daughter wanted to go visit, lots of reading but interesting museum.

A good museum, I knew very little about him but it was still easy to understand and follow. All signs were in English.

It could be a little hard to find... Just look for the Art in front and the big K. You will likely see the shop first. So get your ticket there. The museum itself is two levels. Start by climbing the stairs. It gives a good account of his life and had original work. Most items are also translated into English but not all. It gives good insight into his writing and I found it enlightening! Great museum of you like Kafka. Budget at least an hour.

Prague is known for many things: beautifully preserved sites, cheap beer, intoxicating absinth and (intoxicating?) women. Pardon me for being ignorant, but I didn't know who Franz Kafka was until I came to Prague. But now, everytime I think of Prague, that will include Fraz Kafka. He was a German writer born into a Jewish family in Prague (that in itself is already interesting!) who became a lawyer but in his spare time wrote novels and short stories. Well, we wouldn't have a museum dedicated to his works if he really concentrated on practicing law. The museum is laid out typically as you would expect: with a focus on his life, works and how he influeced 20th century writers. What's interesting to note is, if you've read Kafka's works (I recommend "Die Verwandlung" or The Metamorphosis to start) the museum reflects that: very dark with minimal lighting. There are also sections where music and visual art installations are used to add to the experience. Don't miss the fountain outside the museum. This is the work of David Cerny, a famous controversial Czech sculptor. You'll see two men pissing on a puddle, which is incidentally, shaped like the Czech Republic.

Outside is a unique statue. that fits quite well for the subject matter. If you Check it closely, the two figures are pissing into a map of some Republic of some type. FYI I wouldn't recommend going here if you have photosensitive epilepsy. A lot of the exhibits flash in black and white to add to the creepy surrealist/ atmosphere. Also, if you have poor vision, it might be difficult to read some of the things listed due to said low lights but it might still be worth it for the visuals and videos. Anyway, it was a very spooky/eerie museum. It was appropriate for the subject manner, mostly dealing with the psyche and his rather dismal opinions on life. I wish there was more subject matter on Die Verwandlung/The metamorphosis though they had a lot of stuff on his less famous works. A lot of history of him as well. Good museum. I wouldn't spend more than an hour or 2 at it but it was nice and worth it for the admission. The area itself is quiet.

This is not a typical museum about a famous person's life. I was confused throughout because I hoped it would give me a better understanding of who Kafka was - school years, family life, university studies, career, what influenced his writings, and what his most important writings were. Instead, it seemed to float throughout, not necessarily connecting the dots from one room to the next, and frequently changing between English and German, and occasionally Czech. Many of the signs seem to have pulled out their thesaurus to come up with bigger words to use, but this meant that the meaning - the part you want people to actually retain - was completely lost. Meanwhile, you're in pretty dark rooms with bizarre overhead music (or noise, in some cases). Maybe that is to create the existential battle he felt, but I just found that it made me want to move more quickly along so I could leave this bizarre place.

Probably the whole reason I came to Prague in the first place. Kafka is one of my favourite writers. He was Jewish, living in the area of Prague that spoke German at the time. So fair warning, if you come here mostly everything will be in German, rather than Czech. However, there are lots of signs explaining what everything is that is in English. Knowing German just helps to understand things deeper. The museum is full of artefacts from his life, starting from his childhood to his death. There are loads of pictures of buildings that were important to him in his life, such as where his father worked and the houses Kafka lived in. This in itself is great because it allows you to see how Prague looked then. The museum itself is very Kafkaesque, very dark and minimalist. If you are visually impaired, you might have trouble reading the signs and texts, but otherwise it is not so dark that you cannot see. There are also interactive elements too, such as visual art (video screens, etc.) that can be used to deepen the experience. I definitely recommend checking it out, and possibly visiting the gift shop to pick up a Kafka memorabilia or two.

So, I kept imagining a Better experience to honor this amazing writer, but the surreal sounds and the ambling walk and random art experiences weren't it. On the other hand, a couple of months later, I can still recall with clarity the red staircase, the loopy film - maybe the surreality of Kafka truly does deserve this equally surreal museum? Its part memorabilia - from books, to letters to his sick-certificates, everything the museum can find is here in a random pattern, and maybe Kafka, with his randomness of the city and modern life would appreciate that? I dont know - in equally parts I hated this museum and loved it, perhaps a bit like Kafka, himself?

Not your typical museum, but that's fitting considering the subject matter. I would say that it's more thematic than linear in the presentation of the material, focusing on photos, letters, early editions etc. that connect to a particular theme from Kafka's work. Each room follows a given theme and there is a variety of music, ambient noise, film, and installation to add to the experience. Overall, the collection is a small one, and I can't say any of the items presented are indispensable viewing. But if you're a fan of Kafka it's an interesting 30 minutes or so, and I think they did a very creative job of displaying what they have. Plus the fresh gingerbread cookies in the courtyard smell amazing...

So I walked passed here many times before I decided to go in. I had even just visited the courtyard and took photo's of the statues of the two men peeing which I found funny, Ive heard some say it was rude and offensive but not me. Im not sure what it stands for or what thought its supposed to provoke but ???? Kafka was Czech but some are Czech German as is my heritage and many if not all of his books are in German. The one's I've found anyway. I have seen many people's comments mentioning they could not read anything here but if you have some German you will be fine I would say. Its really about his relationship with his father and to be honest he comes across as a spoiled brat. The museum is on my favourite street and walking distance from Malostranska subway and also the Charles Bridge on the other side. If you come from the Charles Bridge direction you will pass the Shakespeare & Sons bookstore, on your right so you will know you are on the right path. Entry is 200 kn. and you must buy your ticket in the gift shop opposite. There is also a coffee shop to the left of museum which I have not been into as I just presumed it was going to be overpriced and targeting tourists. The museum is on the banks of the river so its in a great location.

It's atmospheric, the music, pieces of film and his letters, plus the salient aspects of his dramatic personality, make for an interesting visit.

Felt it was a bit small and underwhelming, but I went alone. If you go with someone to experience it with I can imagine it would spark interesting conversation. I just wish there was more.

The man(around 30s) who sells the entrance ticket is a total jerk. I am a student and I accidentally misread the student price for 80 instead of 120(as there are two different student ticket price listed there), so I kindly asked him why that's the case, but didn't expect to receive a "NO" response without any explanation at all. Then he just left me confused as fuck in the meantime already charge my card. After that he put the receipt in front of me, while I was still trying to figure out what the hack was going on, he literally shouted at me: "Signature!" While at the same time looking aside and showed that he was very impatient. I swear to god the time between he gave me the recipt to the time he shouted at me was not longer than 2 seconds and there is nobody after me so no rush at all. I was about to shout back to him, but I didn't. And this is not the first rude Czech person I met. The museum was okay, but honestly that guy totally ruined my mood to appreciate the museum.

Interesting exhibits. This is not an encyclopedic overview of Kafka's life but rather an interpretation of Kafkaesque themed multimedia art works created by one artist. So if you like modern art and interpretation, this may be for you.

Not for the weak of heart, much like Kafka's writing, the curator of this testament to the brilliance of Kafka really understands the themes of alienation that run through Franz's books and builds an experience which leaves the visitor with an underlying feeling of uneasiness. Comprised of moments in Kafka's life, excerpts from his letters, and a look into the mind of the man himself, this is an absolute must for any literature fans. However, don't be surprised if by the end you have an almost irrational fear you will some how be trapped to walk through the slight creepy and unsettling rooms for eternity.

The most interesting and nontraditional museum I've ever been to. Weather you've read Kafka or not, this museum is a must!

Very well done museum. Has an eerie atmosphere which is very appropriate for Kafka. I had read his books several years ago, and was happy to reconnect with his work by visiting his museum. I think it's worth a stop if you like his work and are visiting Prague.

I realize there's not a whole lot you can exhibit for a writer--there's only so much writing that can be shown. (The James Joyce museum in Dublin was the same.) But Kafka was different. He was also an artist. I would've liked to have seen more of his drawings. I also would've liked to have seen more pictures of his university days, post college years, sickness period. Also, it would've been nice to have seen letters that were written TO Kafka. Other than that, I'm glad I went to the Kafka museum although it was a pain to get to.

What an interesting and thoughtful store. Great unique items. We especially loved viewing postcards for the grandchildren.

i wasn't sure what to expect but this was a wonderful collection of documents, diary entries, artwork, books and information. the way in which it was displayed was truly the best part-the sound collages and atmosphere made this place very unique. i'm glad i stopped by here on my visit to prague.

The museum is great if you like to discuss with a friend the human condition, history, political science, and Kafka's insights. The presentation is sobering and respectful to the subject. You can draw opinions from it which helps show the importance of him as a writer and helps explain ideologies of Bohemia.