Harald SalfellnerCritiques

Mostly meat

Ein wunderschönes, handliches Buch, dessen Titel schon Lust macht und die merkwürdig schöne, optimistische Stimmung der Karlsbrücke mit dem Blick hinüber auf die Kleinseite einfängt. Allein dieses zarte Gemälde sieht man tausendfach ausgestellt zum Kauf auf der Karlsbrücke, sie sind alle eigentümlich schön und jeder Blick rundum macht sie wahr.

Wann immer wir Lust bekommen auf Prag, liegt dieses Buch voller Geschichten nicht weit. Wir wohnen im ehemaligen Haus von Tycho Brahe und tauchen ein in die Faszination der für uns schönsten Stadt der Welt. Dieses Buch bietet schönste literarische Begründungen, Annäherungen, warum dies so sein könnte.

Wir standen vor Beginn der großen Überschwemmung an der Moldau, das Wasser stieg und die Schreie der Vögel bleiben für immer in uns, das Lied der Moldau von Brecht ist grundlegend schön:

"Am Grunde der Moldau wandern die Steine.
Es liegen drei Kaiser begraben in Prag.
Das Große bleibt groß nicht und klein nicht das Kleine.
Die Nacht hat zwölf Stunden, dann kommt schon der Tag."

EICHENDORFF, SCHINKEL, GRILLPARZER, ANDERSEN, HEBBEL, RILKE, NERUDA, MEYRINK, BRECHT, HAUPTMANN, FRISCH, KUNDERA, KAFKA U.V.M. ranken ihre Geschichten und Hintergründe um eine Stadt, deren Geschichte auch die Geschichte der deutschen gegen die tschechische Sprache ist. Lange mussten die Tschechen eine deutsche Amtssprache ertragen und zu Kafkas Zeiten machten sich diese Unterwerfungen zum Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts deutlich Luft, mit Protestaktionen und Massendemonstrationen, deren Heftigkeit alles bisher Dagewesene übertraf. (Harald Salfender: Kafkas Prag). Absurde Gesetze und Amtssprachen-Anordnungen sorgten für ein bürokratisches Chaos und Unsicherheiten.

Grillparzer beschreibt Prag als eine wirklich schöne Stadt mit dieser Liebeserklärung: "Die Lage im Kessel von schönen und reich bepflanzten Bergen, überall vorteilhafte Linien bildend, der breite Fluss mitten durch die Stadt, das Häusergewühl durch sonderbare Türme und hervorragende Gebäude aller Art wohltuend unterbrochen und in Partien gesondert, der Hradschin das Ganze krönend, alles trägt dazu bei, diese Stadt, recht gemäldehaft zu einer der schönsten für den Besucher zu machen."

Wenn man öfters in dieser Stadt weilt - und das ist sehr wahrscheinlich nach einem Erstbesuch - dann ist dieses Buch ein phantasiereiches Dokument, um Stein um Stein einer reichen Geschichte zu erleben, ja diese Steine zu einem eigenen Bild zusammenzufügen. Durchzogen ist es durch einige Gemälde-Abbildungen, die exakt das transportieren, was wir immer wieder in Prag erleben: fast jeder Blick, jeder Halt ein Gemälde.

This is a truly marvelous work, indispensable for any travelers to Prague who hope to seek sites that figured importantly in Franz Kafka's life. It is packed with photographs that show places where the Kafka family lived, where Franz went to school, where he worked, and places he frequented. Other photos are of Franz and his family, friends, schoolmates, and fiances. Also included are photos of the cover of Kafka's publications, his drawings and sketches, playbills, statues, and tombstones. Of particular value to travelers are the maps, that precisely locate the historical sites that figured in his life. I can only wish that I had this book before I visited Prague, as I would have been able to locate more of the sites that I was interested in finding. This book is highly recommended as a "literary history" to travelers to Prague as well as to armchair travelers who wish to see period photographs of the sites they have read about in the Kafka biographies.½

Not a bad book, but not fabulous either. I got it in a souvenir store when visiting Prague, because I'm Jewish and I enjoy myths/legends/historical tales, so it seemed like an interesting find. It was a quick simple read about the legend of the Golem. Probably not worth the money, as similar stories are all over the place, including Wikipedia and whatnot, and there's tons of slight variations to the myth of Golem, so it's not like any one text is better.

In other words, this was a decent read, but don't bother seeking it out.½

While he hardly breaks new ground, Kafka's Prague being one of the most covered territory, this collection of the buildings and places in Kafka's life is highly engaging and beautifully illustrated. The early 20th century map at the front and the modern map of Prague at the back help to easily locate the actions of Kafka's life and also improve one's own mental model of Prague. The most surprising factor of Kafka's Prague was its already disappearing Germanic community. The larger and larger Czech community was replacing German street signs and starting to impose its language. After the First World War, Kafka as an AUVA government official had to suddenly shift to writing Czech texts, which Kafka both out of fear and perfectionism had proofread by a Czech mother tongue relative. Kafka's Prague is thus a twice lost city - a loss of both the Jewish and the German community. While modern Prague cashes in on Kafka tourism (represented with two museums!), the city is keen on forgetting its German past. Fortunately, this book preserves one of its aspects.

Bought in a museum in Prague, because I wanted to learn more about the legend of the Golem. I did not really get what I wanted from this book, as there are only two short and vague stories about the Golem.

However, those stories and all the others gave me a real sense of the Jewish Quarter's history, and vastly increased my appreciation and reverence for the things I saw on my trip. So really, it ended up being the book I needed.

A collection of legends and folklore surrounding the Prague Golem, it's creation and the Jews living in Prague. It is made up of a series of short tales in roughly chronological order including tales of the New-Old Sysnagogue, the Quiet Jew and Rabbi Loew who famously created the Golem to save the Jews of Prague.

There are some lovely pen drawings to accompany the tales and it was interesting to read stories from an area I have visited. I was lucky enough to visit the Jewish cemetary on my second trip to Prague and get a photo of Loew's grave as well as visit the New-Old Synagogue. Reading these tales made me want to go back again.

I think the story that most stuck in my mind was that entitled Rabbi Loew and the Rose which tells of the death of Loew. He was quite the inventor making a devide that told him every time the angel of death was near as well as the famous Golem.

The writing is sloppy and the stories uninspired.½

An enjoyable stroll through the dark word of Kafka's Prague.

Købt i Prag, juli 2004