When you step into the quaint bookstore at Široká Street 14, you’re immediately enveloped by the aroma of aged paper and the sight of towering shelves. If you ask the shop assistant kindly, she might reveal the secret of an original Franz Kafka library, tucked away in the courtyard underground. This is the Kafka most are familiar with – intellectual, enigmatic and introspective. Yet, Kafka’s diaries uncover a different side of him: a young man with a passionate curiosity about life’s complexities, including his visits to brothels. These experiences, which he described as ‘normal’ and ‘innocent,’ remind us of the multifaceted nature of historical figures. However, it’s essential not to romanticise these elements too much, as the realities of such lives, both then and now, are far from idyllic.
YET, LET’S TALK BUSINESS
Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, is regarded as a Mecca of the sex business, providing the whole world with all types of porn. In the 1990s, many emerging tigers and mafia boys grasped opportunities impudently, violently exploiting the transformative era of Czechoslovakia. This was a time when gangsters wore white socks, had lascivious moustaches and carried plastic bags full of cash from banks. In Czechia, everything seemed possible. We saw machos driving the streets of downtown in a cabriolet, full of naked women. We watched the live striptease of a TV presenter during the weather forecast when it got too hot outside. There were provocative images on billboards selling everything from printers to electric saws. Sometimes you can still see those relics of past times, when boys believed in ‘sex sells,’ forgetting about the other half of the population who also possessed money. The mafia now operates more virtually. Sex studios produce a significant amount of online content. One of the heroines in my book on intimacy describes how as a sex worker she was invited to a Prague studio where she was placed on a big rotating plate while being photographed from all sides. Of course, she never knew where the content went or how it was manipulated. And also, of course, she did it because of the debts of her ex-partner. We shouldn’t forget about this dark side of the sex business. Those involved personally rarely reap the full financial rewards. As prostitution is forbidden in Czechia, there are many nicknames for the subject. In Prague, sex businesses can still be called art studios to obtain legal licenses. And there is much more sex around – because Prague has lately also gained a blue reputation as a cheap place for stag parties, which take place in hundreds of clubs in Prague downtown – and not only the public ones. Many attic apartments have been converted into private clubs offering extras such as jelly wrestling or beer bike tours – imagine a huge table on wheels for up to twelve people with a beer pipe in front of everyone offering an unlimited amount of beer to drink while trying to cycle. When encountering a bunch of these drunken cyclists, we locals were always furious, blocked on roads, on pavements and even in parks by these monstrous machines. Eventually, the city imposed a ban on this bike activity.
JUST ORDINARY PLACES
Famous sex streets such as Skorepka, Uhelný trh, Perlovka and Ve Smeckách – where (amongst the cabarets and bars) there is also a world-renowned studio that has recorded hundreds of soundtracks for movies like Melancholia (2011) by Lars von Trier, Lost Highway (1997) by David Lynch and Todo sobre mi madre (1999) by Pedro Almodóvar – are actually very ordinary places during the day. The night brings more action – even if prostitution was officially expelled from Prague streets in 2008, you can still see things happening downtown, especially around Charles Square, touching the big state hospital, and Wenceslas Square. If you want to know more about the main Prague brothels of the past, there are many books on the subject. You will be surprised reading about them today, because many areas once well known for prostitution have been completely rebuilt and transformed into luxury places. The Powder Tower at Republic Square was earlier a crossroads for people looking for physical pleasure. Today, the beautiful Municipal House, built in the art nouveau style, and the National Bank are located here. Nowadays, tourists circulate in the veins of this district more than human liquids. The reconstruction of the main train station at the beginning of the 21st century also reduced the sex business at this important hub for travellers. As a student, while waiting for my train, I often witnessed desperate young men addicted to hard drugs prostituting themselves in the main hall and neighbouring park. Today, the place is famous for the beautiful art nouveau Fanta Café with its glass ceiling. But I still remember the 1990s, when the second floor of the train station was occupied by the second-hand boutique offering a lot of lost – but probably stolen – suitcases … This is the sad part of my guide to Prague.
PLEASURE IN BOOKS
But do not be disheartened. I also know nicer stories and places. You can enjoy a lot of little hidden treasures in Prague. I would start in the bookstores and antiquarian bookshops, such as 1. Podzemní antikvariát in Hybernská Street. Go hunting for beautiful erotic books full of poems by Czech surrealists, and short stories and novels as well as fascinating paintings and collages created in the 1930s and later. Many Czech creators were hugely influenced by their French colleagues. Some of the works have been translated into English and are affordable. Dive into erotic fantasies using the unusual vocabulary of that time, and, as you turn the pages, explore erotic symbols in every picture – a feather instead of a tongue touching a vulva, a long-haired woman preparing a tiny chastity belt for a masturbating guy in a box, a bride marrying a huge dick, a wild fish trying to bite a woman’s crotch … Hunt for Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream (1933) by Jindrich Štýrský, Sexual Nocturne (1931) by Vítezslav Nezval or Thyrsos by (1949) František Halas. They were more recently collectively republished in the anthology Edition 69 (2004). Jindrich Štýrský was also known as a painter of erotic pictures, and you can find them in this collection. Štýrský was a good friend of Toyen, the fascinating Czech female artist who did not conform to the gender normativity of the 20th century, adopting a gender-neutral name and preferring men’s clothes, and spent her later years in France, mainly to avoid communism. Find a reprint of her book Twenty-one (1938) – referring to the number of erotic pictures she made on the instruction of Bohuslav Brouk, the Czech psychoanalyst. Try also to purchase the famous poem May (1932) by Karel Hynek Mácha about forbidden love and death.
The text is full of erotic symbols and passion. This book is the reason why in Czechia we do not celebrate the day of love on 14th February as in other countries but on 1st May. All Czech kids have to learn the first lines of the romantic poem at school, unaware of other works by this romantic 20th century writer who left behind super-erotic diaries about his pleasure games with his lover Lori. And there’s Jana Krejcarová, alias Honza, who was not only a daughter of Kafka’s good friend Milena Jesenská but also a bohemian writer and author of erotic poetry. You can buy many of these publications at the bookstore of the National Gallery at Prague 7 or at Franz Kafka Bookstore in Široká Street.
It is less known that, between 1848 and 1854, Prague was also the home of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, writer of Venus in Furs (1870) and the father of masochism. He lived, while a student, at Ovocný trh 3.
VISUAL COLLAGES
Czech visual art is beautiful and varied. Prague’s galleries and libraries are the best places to examine the subject – you can order old books, catalogues, art magazines and newspapers, even very rare ones, from the National Library at the Klementinum. Look for erotic collages by Karel Teige, famous comic books by Kája Saudek (including his Muriel character), photo publications by his younger brother Jan, erotic pop-art paintings from the series Venuše (1960s–70s) by Ladislav Sutnar, provocative poems and collages by Jirí Kolár, drawings by František Bidlo, photobooks by František Drtikol … Today, a big star of the Czech art scene is my friend the photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková, whose diaries and photos I published in 2016. She was the first in communist Czechoslovakia to take pictures of an underground gay community, at the T-Club in the 1970s and 80s, and also took nude self-portraits. Her artwork is now literally everywhere.
MOVING IMAGES
Do not miss the notable shop for Czech movies Terryho ponožky, opposite the old Svetozor cinema downtown. There you can find film posters, including erotic ones, for the scandalous movie Ecstasy, directed in 1932 by the Czech filmmaker Gustav Machatý, in which Hedy Lamarr, one of the main characters, faked an orgasm. Ecstasy became the first movie to be banned in the United States for obscenity. Also in Terryho ponožky you can dig out amazing Czech erotic and surrealistic film treasures in English, such as Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) by Jaromil Jireš on the transformation of a girl into a woman with the assistance of a priest, vampires and a granny; Daisies (1967) by Vera Chytilová, about two destructive girls opposing the norms of communist society; Closely Watched Trains (1966) by Jirí Menzel, awarded an Oscar, with the famous stamp-on-ass scene and based on a novel by Bohumil Hrabal; and Conspirators of Pleasure (1996) by Jan Švankmajer, on various pleasure-consumers. Talking more about the surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer, his partner Eva collected many of her dreams in diaries and painted beautiful erotic fantasies. The art couple lived close to Prague castle in an area called New World, which is well worth roaming around. Their house in the bohemian quarter, called Prague Montmartre, is recognisable by the little white busts of the couple on their balcony. Turning to contemporary art filmmakers, Daria Kashcheeva’s movie Electra (2023) is now resonating internationally in the film world. Nevertheless, in 2024, after receiving a film award, her speech on the terrible conditions of women in the local film industry was abruptly and rudely cut short by the organiser of the evening, showing that misogyny still prevails within Czech society. A similar attack occurred in the autumn of 2024 on the rising broadcasting star and journalist Linda Bartošová, who had recently launched her podcast Pleasure on Czech public radio. Critics were jealous – Linda’s podcast had garnered one of the biggest audiences in the history of broadcasting.
1st MAY
But back to something more pleasurable and poetic! I have already mentioned the celebration of love on 1st May. This day, all lovers gather at Petrín Hill, which is right up against the Hunger Wall and crowned by a little observation platform imitating the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris. Throughout the day-long festival of love, all Petrín visitors have to kiss under the blossoming cherry tree and visit the statue of Mácha, the famous writer of the previously mentioned long poem May. This green Prague breast – whose sightseeing nipple is reachable by a cute funicular – is thickly planted with fruit trees of all kinds, providing many hidden, secluded places. You might observe a lot of sex taking place within the stunning almond and pear orchards. In 1992, the most famous Czech singer, Lucie Bílá, released a song called Love Is Love, about same-sex couples and various sex activities being performed at Petrín. The video was a huge provocation and success at the same time, showing the most unexpected couples having pleasure together, including a skier, a priest and a dog. The video was released just two years after the fall of the fakely puritanical communist regime – a significant player in smuggling porn movies to Czechoslovakia, copying them and spreading them further. And just a few months later, Bílá’s video for the psycho-thriller-drama Requiem for a Doll came out, in which she performed a mystical song, one of the best ever released in Czech pop music, wearing a transparent dress. Lucie Bílá could have become the Czech Madonna, but she later chose a much calmer career.
MADONNAS
Talking about Madonnas, the Czech capital city is known for its Infant Jesus of Prague, a 400-year-old wooden statue of the baby messiah, probably originating from Spain, that is regularly dressed in different royal robes by the Carmelite Sisters of the Church of Our Lady Victorious. Compared with women’s statues in Prague’s public spaces, which are very often nude, it is a weird paradox. Dressed statues in Prague devoted to important men significantly outnumber those of clothed women. You shouldn’t miss the statue of Božena Nemcová, the most admirable Czech female writer, which is on Žofín island. This passionate, talented and highly intelligent author and role model for many Czech women, who lived between 1820 and 1862 and flouted conventions, became the voice of the Czech National Revival moment. Nevertheless, she died in poverty – and alone. Later, the communist regime used her again as a national symbol. Recently, the famous Czech writer Radka Denemarková paid tribute to Nemcová by making her one of the key characters in her new novel Chocolate Blood (2023). Some of the most famous naked sculptures are the artworks of the artist Jan Štursa, who focused mainly on young female bodies; you can see his nude statue of a woman standing on a dolphin at Hradcany Square, the allegorical Adria at Národní trída, which includes a wasps’ nest, a birds’ nesting box, a devil and a naked boy, or Toileta near Prague Castle. Personally, I like the ceramic reliefs of women by Ladislav Šaloun on the façade at Národní trída 7 in an art nouveau style for their colours. And there is one more place in Prague where we can admire naked sculptures – the garden of the Academy of Fine Arts at Prague 7. Emerging sculptors, still students, create their first statues there, based on models who volunteer for long hours. One of the statues is the body of my friend Zuzana who wanted to go through this specific experience of nudity. Zuzana is also taking painting classes where she is perfecting her skills on other naked volunteers. Mentioning the Academy of Fine Arts, I have to name another friend of mine, artist and performer Kaca Olivová, who teaches at this school. And who also often performs naked – sometimes with rainbow make-up, sometimes with a fish or other animal head. Czech photographer Bet Orten has shot her as a hanging statue at the Academy of Fine Arts with blue butterfly wings. Today, Kaca has a disgusting hate campaign against her because of showing her naked body, which has the shape of the famous Venus of Dolní Vestonice statue from the Palaeolithic. It is hard to believe that a naked body the same proportions as one made of clay disturbs anyone. As a literary documentarian and publisher, I also often collaborate with the contemporary Czech photographer and artist Michaela Karásek Cejková. While working on the book on feminism by the Czech lawyer and activist Šárka Homfray, Michaela has created collages of contemporary Madonnas, visually commenting on powerful essays. It is good when women are taking back their appropriated symbols.
SEX PRODUCTS
Walking around Prague, you will find that most of the shops and museums linked to eroticism hide their content behind curtains and huge posters, to avoid disturbing customers or passers-by. But there are young, progressive erotic brands you might like to encounter while in Prague. Czech designer of sex toys Whoop-de-doo has her beautiful store and office on Kamenická Street.
Her internationally award-winning brand produces beautiful vibrators and Venus balls in the Czech Republic, and is our pride. Do not hesitate and visit Whoop-de-doo. You will be surprised to hear that the main product designer and owner of the label Anna Marešová has also received awards also for her Prague tram and the new Petrín funicular! Fashion designer Tereza Vu is another name to remember – she is recognised for her haute couture erotic lingerie for women. Tereza’s office is at the best fashion address in Prague – Parížská Street. Karolína Cerná is another emerging sexy lingerie designer Within her brand Sheio, Karolína designs and makes crotchless panties that are both beautiful and comfortable to wear. Write to her to make an appointment in her new art studio at Haštalská Street at Prague 1 and gift yourself a bit of pleasure.
QUEER DATING
I asked my queer friends where they look for their pleasure in Prague. Tom told me: ‘To tell you the truth, Prague is not Berlin. But if you wish to have gay sex, visit the sauna Babylonia. On Friday evenings, there is always a foam party – everybody is naked, trying to struggle through it. A regular meeting place is the men’s sauna at the swimming pool in Podolí. There are also a couple of gay bars and sex clubs in Prague, for example Drakes at Andel. If I want to meet a new boy, I always go to a rave night – Dick Party is reserved for gay people only. But you can meet gay people at any techno party. My gay friends attend Milk and Honey parties, but they expect women to be there too. Tattoo studio Hell invites all kinds of people to fetish parties and even fetish weekends, but you have to wear latex and leather.’ My friend Marunka recommended places for lesbian women: ‘There’s no special lesbian bar at the moment in Prague. But me and my queer friends, we often go to the official Q Café in Opatovická Street, even if it is more male-gay oriented. My female friends also enjoy dancing in the Friends Club & Bar on Bartolomejská Street. I prefer the new community-based feminist Safe Space Café and Bookstore at Žižkov. The queer festival Prague Pride organises Beaver L* Parties for lesbians and queer girls twice a year. Disco and pop lovers can join Freedom Nights with DJs. I really love Prague Pride – there’s so much happening, even speed-dating, and talks about lesbian parenthood and queer history. As queer women living in Prague, we have a festival called Queer Eye, and there is also the film festival Mezipatra. There are a lot of NGOs supporting us, like Jsme fér, fighting for marriage for all, and Gender Studies. But I agree with Tom. Prague is much calmer than Berlin.’
WHERE WE DATE
Even if Prague is a cosmopolitan city today, in many respects a lot of us Czechs are still a bit old fashioned in terms of dating spots. I and my friends still go to old cinemas like Bio Oko, Kino Lucerna, Svetozor, Atlas and Aero that have the charm of past times – no popcorn is allowed, but there is yellow limo, cocktails and a cosy, intimate atmosphere. Sometimes, you can even watch old movies like Basic Instinct (1992), which is so distant from today’s world. A story that made people horny earlier looks ridiculous today. We still love to rent a boat or a swan-paddle and spend a few hours at Vltava River. We love to date at folk concerts in old pubs and clubs all around Prague. We love to visit Stromovka Park and just walk along one of the arms of the Vltava and look for beavers. We love small cafes with little gardens at Letná, Dejvice, Vršovice, Karlín … But be careful. Prague is very much like our famous poet Mácha – at first sight it shows its romantic beauty, but examine our capital city deeper and you will find a lot of hidden erotic treasures, like the popular dirty folkloric songs sung in pubs. And I’ve yet to mention the old Czech habit of spanking women on Easter Monday with a whip to keep them healthy and attractive. My generation considers this folk tradition an anachronism today, but some people still enjoy it …