Kafka and the Fair Sex

In his wild years, even Kafka was not averse to the pleasures of the night and visited dubious wine bars, cabarets, and houses of ill repute such as the Salon Šuha or the legendary Salon Goldschmidt, also known as the “Go-Go”, with its lures of hot coffee and scantily clad women. There was nothing scandalous for a single man about town in visiting such broad-minded wenches at the turn of the twentieth century. It was a widely held opinion that a young man should “sow his wild oats” before taking on the yoke of marriage. 

This time we were led through a brightly lit room to the door of a darkened one, which, at that very moment, was lit up electrically to reveal a view of twenty naked women, standing in a semicircle. Had they previously been sitting in the dark, or had they only just been sent into the room for the sake of the effect when the lights went on? They all smile at you, weigh their breasts in their hands, or demonstrate their arts by rolling their tongues around their mouths.

Max Brod

Trocadéro wine bar. There he loves the Germania from the imperial German stamps. Chambre separée. But he shrinks back so strangely, is not serious enough, despite loving so strongly.

Max Brod, Diaries

There will be no shortage of women for us there ...