Hermann Kafka

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hermann and his wife Julie Kafka

Hermann Chaim Kafka (Jewish name: אנוך, Henoch ; born September 14, 1852 in Wosek , Czech Republic ; † June 6, 1931 in Prague , Czechoslovakia ) was a German-speaking Austrian - Czech merchant and the father of Franz Kafka .

Life

Hermann Kafka's parents were the Jewish butcher Jacob Amschel Kafka (1814–1889) and his wife Franziska, née Platowsky (1816–1885). In the poor family, all six children were brought up to work early, as was customary at the time. Hermann Kafka did five years of military service. At the age of thirty he married the wealthy brewer's daughter Julie Löwy (1856–1934) and opened a wholesale store for clothing goods (sticks, umbrellas, haberdashery ). This business was sold to a relative in 1918.

The couple had six children: the firstborn son Franz and the three sisters Elli , Valli and Ottla . Two sons died as young children. The relationship with his famous son was tense. His upbringing was loud, impulsive and contradictory. Again and again he emphasized his difficult youth to his children. His family and employees received choleric abuse. He did not appreciate his son's writing activities. In many prose pieces he processed his argument with his father and also documented a close connection to him. See also the letter to the father , which is a kind of settlement with the father. The following sentence from it is characteristic: "My letter is about you, I only complained there what I couldn't complain about your chest" . However, the letter never reached its addressee. Even the judgment , eleven sons , the couple and, in particular , the transformation deal with the father-son issues. It is known, however, that especially with Kafka, only limited conclusions can be drawn from the literature about the reality of life.

After the death of his son in 1924, Hermann Kafka signed the contract that determined his friend Max Brod (1884–1968) to be the editor of the estate and Kafka's last friend, Dora Diamant (1898–1952), awarded 45 percent of the income from the publications.

The grave of Franz, Hermann and Julie Kafka in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague

Hermann Kafka died on June 6, 1931 at the age of 78. His grave is together with that of his wife and son in the New Jewish Cemetery in the Prague district of Žižkov .

Web links

Commons : Hermann Kafka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Wagenbach: Franz Kafka - Pictures from his life. 2008, p. 15 f., ISBN 978-3-8031-3625-1 .
  2. ^ Peter-André Alt: Franz Kafka: The Eternal Son. A biography. Verlag CH Beck , Munich 2005, p. 61 ff., ISBN 3-406-53441-4 .
  3. ^ Peter-André Alt: Franz Kafka: The Eternal Son. A biography. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2005, p. 564, ISBN 3-406-53441-4 .
  4. ↑ Klaus Wagenbach: Franz Kafka - Pictures from his life. 2008, p. 248, ISBN 978-3-8031-3625-1 .
personal data
SURNAME Kafka, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kafka, Hermann Chaim (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Father of Franz Kafka
DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH Osek u Milevska , South Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1931
Place of death Prague