Kinsky Palace

And so, what does this Rococo palace (at left), designed by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, with statues of the four elements by Ignaz Franz Platzer, featuring stucco decoration by CG Bossi, bought by the Imperial diplomat Stepan Kinsky in 1768, have to do with Franz Kafka? The following: 1) it is where, at the back of the palace, Franz attended the Imperial and Royal Old Town German Secondary School from 1891 to 1901, and where 2) you would find, after going through the portal on the right and then turning again to the right, the location of his father’s business from 1912-1918. It should surprise no one that a bookstore, named after and featuring numerous works by and about Kafka (Franz, not his father), translated into every major language spoken by the crowds of tourists likely to pass through, is now located in the space of his father’s former business.

To the right of the Kinsky Palace is the imposing Tyn cathedral. From their home on the other side of the square, near the astronomical clock, the Kafka family cook would lead the young Franz to his elementary school through the narrow street that lies between these buildings. Each day she would threaten to tell the teachers what a bad boy he'd been at home (even though he hadn't), and each day he would desperately plead with her not to tell them. Despite the considerable terror she aroused in him, she never fulfilled her threat.