International Symposium

The international symposium traces the historical encounter between Franz Kafka and Milena Jesenská and places it in a literary and historical context. Franz Kafka and Milena Jesenská met in Gmünd three years before his death. They wanted to meet „halfway“, the Czech journalist and translator from Vienna and the German-speaking insurance clerk and writer from Prague. Kafka had already experienced difficulties at Gmünd station - which had only just become part of Czechoslovakia after the implementation of the St. Germain peace treaty resolutions - a few weeks earlier on the return journey from Meran via Vienna to Prague and was preparing the upcoming trip by Franz Josef Bahn for both of them. The international symposium is intended to shed light on various facets of this topic from a scientific point of view and form an overall picture. Renowned experts from Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany have been invited to this event.

Organized in cooperation with the Austrian Franz Kafka Society, the Prague House of Literature - Pražský literární dům, the Muzeum Vysočiny Jihlava, p.o., pobočka Třešť and the municipalities of České Velenice and Gmünd.