At the Café Arco

In the autumn of 1907, Josef Suchánek, a coffee-house proprietor from Reichenberg (Liberec), opened an establishment close to what was then the Prague Staatsbahnhof station, which soon became the meeting place for the progressive literati of Prague: the Café Arco. Franz Werfel, Willy Haas, and Paul Kornfeld found a new home here; Anton Kuh and Ernst Weiß, Kurt Tucholsky, Alfred Kubin, and Johannes Urzidil later went there too. Kafka also belonged to a literary circle in the Arco, at least until the outbreak of his illness; he is thought to have met Milena Jesenská here. 

My dear Max, – How would it be if you came down to the “Arco” for a while, not for long, God forbid, just for my sake you know, Pr. is there. Please ma’am, please Herr Brod, be so kind as to let Max come out. 

Franz Kafka to Max Brod

Changeable feeling surrounded by the young people in the Café Arco.

Franz Kafka, Diaries