We have arrived! We are in Prague, the city of Franz Kafka's birth, the majestic city of towers, bridges, and winding cobblestone streets. Wish you were here too!
Well, you can be. You can come along with us on the " Magical Mystery Literary History Tour " online and follow our adventures over the next 10 days with 22 intrepid travelers, as we visit ancient castle towns and the cultural and royal capitals of Eastern Europe. Our first destination is Prague, which we will explore over the next three days. Next we will visit Krakow, the cultural capital of Poland for two days, and then we travel on to the capital of Germany, Berlin, where we will stay for three more nights, until the tour ends on June 24.
The Magical Mystery Literary History Tour is the kick-off for the Kafka Project's Eastern European Research Project , which I'm conducting this summer in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Kafka Project, based at San Diego State University, is the official investigation into the missing papers (consisting of 20 notebooks and 35 letters, all unpublished) of Franz Kafka (pictured), one of the most influential figures in world literature. Confiscated by the Gestapo in Berlin in 1933 from Kafka's last love, Dora Diamant , these papers have been missing for 75 years, but it is possible that they can be found, if we look for them.
I first came to Prague in 1985, when it was under Communist rule. I haven't been back since 1991, shortly after the Velvet Revolution, when it still remained untouched by the modern world. On my first two visits, I fell in love with this strange castle city of a hundred spires and dark, twisted alleys, where Kafka lived and was buried. Even without the perpetual San Diego sunshine I so love, I wanted to move here and live here forever. I admit I'm anxious to see how much it has changed since then.
Arif Abdulla from Florida
June 17, 2008 at 02:39 AM
This trip sounds fascinating! How lucky for those who have joined with Kathi to solve a great literary mystery. My hopes are with all the lucky travellers - and hopeful history buffs, in her quest to find a missing link.
Have a great trip in eastern Europe - having just come back from Europe myself, don't let the Euro let you down - live life to the fullest! I'll be following along with anticipation. :)
Lori Diamant from Bradenton, FL
June 17, 2008 at 02:48 AM
Looking forward to reading about your trip and traveling along with you!
William D from Anna Maria, FL
June 17, 2008 at 09:46 PM
You were lost--I couldn't find you until just now. I was about to write a story about a lost doll--but now I don't have to. Put a stone on Franz' tomb for me.
Peggy Blassingame from Anna Maria, FL
June 17, 2008 at 09:56 PM
How exciting! .My greetings and best wishes to all of your group who I know---also everybody else on the tour. Also the Czechs, and the Poles, and the Germans and almost everybody else. :-)
Glorie Levinson from Charlotte,North Carolina
June 17, 2008 at 10:36 PM
I am with you all the way on this wonderful journey. I am reliving my great time in Prague with Trudi and Byron. The Casa Edith Stein looks lovely. (sigh) Looking forward to the next email.
Magoo from Dallas, TX
June 18, 2008 at 03:14 PM
Whopper Junior
Arif Abdulla
June 23, 2008 at 01:25 AM
Hey, any leads on the record search? How's the group doing with the file digging? Wishing you all the happiest trip and success in breaking the long silence of lost literary connection.
Kathi Diamant
from Berlin, Germany
June 24, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Hi Arif~thanks so much for following along! The tour ended today, and everyone except Trudi, Byron, Bob and Karen Willis has gone on--some to England, one to Spain, others to different points in Poland and Germany. Tonight we have dinner with the Lask family of Berlin, and tomorrow the research in the Berlin archives begins with a meeting with Johanna Hoornweg, a translator I hired for the kafka Project in Berlin in 1998, who has stayed attached to the project, and Maya Rehbein, a retired physician and Kafka fan, who has been researching and writing about Kafka for a couple of decades. Both traveled from Berlin in 1999 to attend Dora's stonesetting in London. We will meet to discuss how they can help locate the repositories and archives we hope to visit in Silesia.
nikki symington from san diego
July 05, 2008 at 03:39 PM
not fair. I want to be there. Miss you so much. I have my own tour group 20 people to herd around. Plus adopted a lame coyote. Love the blog it is kathi-byron perfect.
bored in borrego.
Uzi from Israel
July 14, 2008 at 09:45 PM
Thank you Kathi and Byron for your beautiful articles. First, it's like a detective storythat are still in action... And secondly this remind me the wonderful tour few years ago to Poland with my beloved wife Tsipy. We stayed in Krakow, visited the salt mine, Zakopane and, of course. Bedzin - Dora's[and mine...] hometown.
I hope that you'll find the missing letters of Kafka and publish a second edition of your book.
Bye and hope to meet you and Byron soon,
Uzi [member of the family...]
Kathi Diamant
from Bedzin, Poland (Uzi Raviv's hometown, too!)
July 15, 2008 at 09:25 AM
Dear Uzi,
how wonderful to hear from you! We are now in your home town of Bedzin, and our view from the hotel window is of the castle on the hill. It's no longer ruined, but has been all fixed up. There is now a museum in there that we are going to visit now. It's probably a 10-15 minute walk.
Carrying thoughts of you and Tsipy as we go...
with love,
Kathi (and Byron)
PS We are here for three days, as we meet with the professor at the University of Silesia in Sosnowiec, and his contacts at the National archives and state library.
