The Prague Post
November 22nd, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accomodation

Home » Archives » Opinion

Truly Kafkaesque

Holešovice rail station gets flashy name but no new funds
Commentary | Search restaurants | Archives

December 5th, 2007 issue

By Mark Baker

Pity poor Franz Kafka. His life was certainly no bowl of cherries. He labored for years in relative obscurity at an insurance company on Na poříčí street only to die a wretched death of tuberculosis at the age of 41. His last wish was that all of his writings be burned.
For decades — as Kafka’s literary star rose around the world — he was effectively ignored by the communist authorities here. Maybe his themes of alienation and bureaucracy hit too close to home. Or maybe it was the fact that he was German-speaking, or that he was Jewish.
These days, Kafka’s likeness is shamelessly flogged on T-shirts and posters at souvenir shops across town, right next to the rows of nesting dolls, Russian Army fur hats and Prague Drinking Team sweatshirts. Kafka alone probably accounts for about 1 percent of the national gross domestic product.
Now, it appears Kafka fans at Czech Railways (České dráhy) are getting in on the act. The other day, while catching a train to Budapest from the Holešovice station in Prague 7, I noticed for the first time that the station had been renamed “nádraží Franze Kafky” (Franz Kafka Station).
Yes, you read that right. Arguably the most wretched train station in the country — aside from Hlavní nádraží itself — has now been renamed after Prague’s most famous author and one of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century.
What’s up with that?
Through the years, nádraží Holešovice has always posed something of a mystery. How is it that a derelict suburban station ever managed to evolve into the Czech Republic’s de facto international rail gateway (with daily trains to and from Vienna, Budapest and Berlin)? And how is it that, despite that fact, Czech Railways hasn’t managed to invest even 50 hellers in the place since the 1989 revolution?
Next time you’re there, take a look around. There are virtually no shops and no services. Aside from a McDonald’s, there’s almost no place to eat. Aside from a herna bar, there’s almost no place to sit. It hasn’t changed a bit in 20 years, and it wasn’t very nice back then either.
I always wonder what passengers from Berlin must think after boarding the train in the German capital’s gleaming new Hauptbahnhof, only to alight at dark and brooding Holešovice.
Actually, the word Kafkaesque does come to mind.
So that’s it — the wags at Czech Railways are obviously enjoying a little literary in-joke.
Maybe they’ve got a point. “The Trial” does serve as a pretty accurate description of trying to buy a train ticket at the ticket window if your Czech isn’t absolutely fluent and you’re not sure exactly which train you need to take.
“The Metamorphosis,” Kafka’s story of a man who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant cockroach, isn’t bad as a subtle reference to the station’s public toilets.
“Description of a Struggle” — that one’s obvious. It’s trying to ask for train information while speaking into a broken microphone to a woman who pretends not to understand a word you’re saying. Or maybe it’s trying to find a place to have coffee after you discover your train has been delayed 30 minutes.
I won’t guess what “The Penal Colony” might refer to.
Actually, I am pretty sure the good people at Czech Railways had the best of intentions. Maybe they were simply trying to right a long-running historical slight in the best way they knew how. But couldn’t they at least have cleaned the place up first?
For real friends of Kafka, I suppose it could have been worse. They could have bestowed the name on Hlavní nádraží instead. That would truly have been adding insult to injury.
— The author is a freelance writer and a long-time expat living in Prague.
Note: Prague transit says the metro and tram stop names remain the same.


Other articles in Opinion (5/12/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.