Kafka in Vienna

Vienna – for the citizens of His Apostolic Majesty, the imperial city was a vibrant centre of power, the hub of a tightly knit political system that was geared towards eternity. That was also true for Kafka although he was not unaware of the strong centrifugal forces to be unleashed during the First World War. Kafka hated Vienna, in which he was “bound to be unhappy”. But Vienna was also inextricably linked with his lover Milena Jesenská, who lived there. And in the end, a Viennese university hospital was one of the final stops in Kafka’s ordeal before his death not far from Vienna. 

Martyrs do not underestimate the body, they allow it to be raised up on the Cross. In this they are at one with their adversaries.

Franz Kafka, Aphorisms

Journey to Vienna […] Heiligenstadt station empty, with empty trains. In the distance a man scans the timetable on the wall. (Now I am sitting on the steps of a bust of one Teophil Hansen.) Hotel Matschakerhof. Two rooms with one entrance. Chose the one in front. Unbearable inn. Must go back into the alley with P. (A man is looking at Teophil Hansen. I am sitting there like his muse.) 

Franz Kafka, Diaries