Letter to Father

work by Kafka

Also known as: “Brief an den Vater”

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June 30, 2026

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Letter to Father is an unfinished autobiographical text written by Franz Kafka in 1919, but never sent to his father. It reveals the profound and often oppressive influence his father, a materialistic and domineering businessman, had on Kafka's life and work. Kafka felt his father's authority instilled in him a sense of inadequacy and contributed to his struggles with marriage and his escape into literature. The letter explores the complex father-son dynamic, which is a recurring theme in Kafka's fiction, often portraying characters battling overwhelming, despotic powers. This work provides insight into the personal anxieties and feelings of impotence that shaped Kafka's literary output.123

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Franz Kafka
Kafka and his father
…an den Vater (written 1919; Letter to Father), a letter that never reached the addressee, Kafka attributed his failure to live, to cut loose from parental ties and establish himself in marriage and fatherhood, as well as his escape into literature, to the prohibitive father figure, which instilled in him…
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…an den Vater (written 1919; Letter to Father), a letter that never reached the addressee, Kafka attributed his failure to live, to cut loose from parental ties and establish himself in marriage and fatherhood, as well as his escape into literature, to the prohibitive father figure, which instilled in him…
Read More

German literature
Franz Kafka
The Brief an den Vater (posthumously published, 1960; “Letter to His Father,” bilingual edition, 1966), written in 1919 but never actually delivered to his father, reveals the autobiographical background to the father-son conflict Kafka depicted in many of his stories, a thematic concern he shared with…
Read More
The Brief an den Vater (posthumously published, 1960; “Letter to His Father,” bilingual edition, 1966), written in 1919 but never actually delivered to his father, reveals the autobiographical background to the father-son conflict Kafka depicted in many of his stories, a thematic concern he shared with…
Read More