Art Nouveau and Cubism in Josefov

And so what happened after the Ghetto -- except for six synagogues, the town hall, and the old cemetery -- had been demolished? First, urban renewal and, then, gentrification. Urban renewal in that the city fathers carefully planned and tendered the doom of the former Ghetto, modelling their plans on Paris' recent destruction of its medieval quarter (when they replaced it with neo-classical buildings and broad avenues). Gentrification in that, given the growth and increasing wealth of Prague, there was no problem finding the capital, the builders, and the buyers of this new, upscale property. Gentrification also in that the former, mostly poor, inhabitants of the Ghetto were forced to move elsewhere, with little or no provision being made for them.

But such demolition and construction created a dream situation for architects: with so many buildings to be put up at once, they could freely indulge their fancies. And so various (and sometimes rather bizarre) shades of neo-classical, neo-baroque, and neo-renaissance buildings were designed and built. But these architects could also work in a very modern mode, designing buildings inspired by some contemporary art movements, especially Art Nouveau and (almost completely unique to Prague's architecure) Cubism.

And the continuing success of Kafka's father in business assured the Kafka family their place in this new/old city quarter, as they lived in two of the newly built buildings, one at the very beginning and the other at the very end of the most exclusive of the new Josefov's streets, Pariska ulice, named after the city which inspired the urban renewal.