Deutsche Bundespost Cententary Birth Anniversary of Franz Kafka

DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST on 5 May 1983 issued a First Day Cover stamp marking the cententary birth  anniversary of Franz Kafka. The stamp featured the signature of Kafka and the Tyn church in Prague (perhaps a simile for Kafka's work "The Castle"). Hans Günter Schmitz designed this 80 Pf. (German pfennig) stamp, whereas Bundesdruckerei printed 32,400,000 multicoloured copies using a Photogravure method. Shown here is both a First Day Cover and FDC maxim card. It should be noted that many countries, i.e. Austria and Czechoslovakia,  have issued stamps honouring Kafka and/or his work.

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian Jewish novelist and writer from Prague. He remains widely regarded as one of the major writers in the 20th century.  His work fused elements of realism and the absurd. It typically featured an isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. His body of work typically explored themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt and absurdity. His best known works include the novella "The Metamorphosis" and novels "The Trial" and "The Castle". As a result, the term 'Kafkaesque' entered the English lexicon to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing.