Prague will complete the reconstruction of Kafka's house in May

Prague - The reconstruction of Kafka's house in Prague 1 is expected to be completed by the end of this May. The building will feature apartments, a café, and a museum dedicated to the writer Franz Kafka. The costs of the reconstruction, which began in August 2017, amount to 165.5 million crowns. This was announced by Vít Hofman, spokesperson for the Prague City Hall, in response to a query from ČTK.

In the first floor of Kafka's birthplace, there will be non-residential spaces that Prague will lease out. "Two additional non-residential spaces on the first floor will become a literary café with a background. We are planning exhibition spaces in the first underground floor. The residential units will be on the second to sixth floors," Hofman stated.

Another building near the Prague City Hall that is set to gain a new purpose is the Clam-Gallas Palace from the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The reconstruction costing 344 million crowns began last October and will last until January 2021. The courtyard of the palace is to become a venue for concerts and theater performances, with shops and a café on the ground floor, while other spaces will be designated for exhibitions.

In the first phase of repairs, Květnice in Petřín is involved, concerning the rear area and underground part, where exhibition spaces are also to be created. The city hall is set to pay 2.8 million crowns for the first part of the reconstruction. For the second phase, which will last from this autumn until next spring, Prague is preparing documentation.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross will also be reconstructed in Petřín for 2.4 million crowns. A building modification announcement has been issued for this investment, and the city will seek a contractor. The repair is expected to begin in April, and everything should be finished by this September.

The city hall is also preparing repairs to the Baroque fortifications, and in the second half of the year, a contractor for the reconstruction of the Old Town Market Hall should be selected. Other city projects include repairs to the waterworks house U Pichla in Letná, revitalization of the Strahov Garden including a new entrance from Úvoz Street, and continuing repairs of the Šlechta Restaurant in Stromovka, where the former hunting lodge is also to be reconstructed.