Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam

Franz Kafka was an enthusiastic cinema-goer. His enthusiasm is particularly evident in his diaries: "Been to the cinema. Cried." is one of the author's best-known notes. He was fascinated by the fleeting nature of images in the cinema, the feeling of fragmentation and the technologisation of the everyday world were an important basis for his writing.

The best-known adaptation of the Golem motif, which has its origins in the 16th century, is the 1914 novel Der Golem by Gustav Meyrink, which is one of the few masterpieces of fantastic literature in the German language. Just a few years later, Paul Wegener and Carl Boese devoted themselves to the Golem myth in a silent film, albeit independently of Meyrink's novel, which was still present in Prague during Kafka's lifetime. This classic silent film opens up important cultural and historical points of reference for Kafka's life and work.