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born 3 July 1883 in Prague died 3 June 1924 in a sanatorium in Kierling near Vienna |
| Franz Kafka Collage © 8/2003 by OPPI |
| 1901-1906 | studies law at Prague’s German University |
| 1902 | starts lifelong friendship with fellow writer and future literary executor Max Brod |
| 1904 | publishes first literary work, “Description and Struggle”, preceded by destruction of early works as artistically unsatisfactory |
| 1907 | temporarily employed with a private insurance firm; publishes fragment “Wedding Preparations in the Country” |
| 1908-1922 | Government employee with Bohemian Workers’ Accident Insurance Office |
| 1910 | starts to keep a diary; deals intensely with his dreams and experiences through soul-searching |
| 1911 | first confinement in tuberculosis sanatorium |
| 1912 | publishes first draft of novel later called “America”; meets and starts extensive correspondence with Felice Bauer; “The Judgement”: first truly ‘kafkaesque’ work |
| 1914 | commences work on unfinished magnum opus “The Trial” |
| 1917 | break with Felice Bauer and confirmation of tuberculosis |
| 1919 | writes “Letter to the Father” – tries to proof that his failure in life is a consequence of the adverse and unhappy relation to his omnipotent father |
| 1922 | publishes “The Castle” and “The Hunger Artist” |
| 1923 | cohabits with 25-year old Dora Diamant in Berlin |
| 1924 | inflation and political unrest in Germany and deteriorating health compel return to Prague |
