Photo: Petr Lukeš, Radio Prague International
In the previous episode of ‘In Kafka’s Footsteps’, we visited the town of Frýdlant, believed to have inspired Kafka’s novel ‘The Castle’. But there is another contender vying for the same accolade: the village of Siřem, a tiny hamlet in northern Bohemia surrounded by hop fields. It was here that Kafka went to stay after being diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1917, in search of peace, fresh air and nature on his sister’s farm.
“We’re standing on the bridge that K. crossed to get to the village, and right there on that hill you can see the granary, which evokes the impression of a castle. The second building on the right used to be a pub belonging to the Dreher Brewery, and on the left we can see a blacksmiths’ shop, where the landlady’s husband from the pub across the street worked. That’s where K. stayed, and it’s also where Franz Kafka stayed when he came to Siřem.”
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Authors: Klára Stejskalová, Anna Fodor