ABSTRACT
What did Franz Kafka see when he looked in the mirror? Or what did he imagine he saw? Let us begin with Kafka’s body, at least with a baseline for his body. On October 1, 1907, Dr. Wilhelm Pollack, a physician working for Kafka’s new employer, the Trieste-based Assicurazioni Generali Insurance Company, found their new employee weighed 61 kilograms (133 pounds) and was 1.82 meters tall (under six feet). He was almost six feet tall, while the average Czech man was five foot five to six, and the average Slavic Jew was much shorter—five foot to five foot one. 1 Pollack’s findings, written on the standard form used to examine those applying for insurance, were as follows:
The unmarried Dr. Franz Kafka, born on July 3, 1883, is in good health and has neither suffered from recent illness nor had any surgical operations. He has not been in any bath-cures or at any sanatoria. His parents are 57 (father) and 48 (mother) years old. His sisters are 18, 17, and 15, and the oldest and youngest both suffered from meningitis. The older at 1 and 1/2 years old; the younger at six months. His body is thin and delicate (gracil). He is relatively weak. His stride is secure, relaxed. The circumference of his neck is 37 cm. He shows no signs of goiter. His voice is pure and strong. He looks younger than his age. The form and structure of his chest—his breast is raised, his clavicle is drumstick-shaped and indented at its ends. He has weak chest muscles. With a deep breath his chest circumference at level of his nipples is 82 cm and on expiration it is 78 cm. Both halves of his chest are equally developed but weak. He takes 16 breaths a minute when resting; and 19 per minute with exercise. The percussion of right upper lobe of his lung is dull as a result of an earlier rachitic deviation. No anomalies by auscultation; no anomalous sounds. His pulse is 78 beats per minute resting, with exercise, 84 beats per minute. There are no abnormal heart sounds. No anomalies in the lower body. The circumference of the waist at the level of the navel is 72 cm. There are no anomalies of the urinary track. His urine showed no anomalies; neither protein nor sugar. There are no anomalies of mental sensibility or motility. Both of his pupils are equally open and each reacts to the light equally. The plantar reflex is present. All past illnesses are truly healed (especially syphilis). The only residue present is the sign of childhood rickets. His general health is good. He shows neither alcoholism nor other excesses. He is a delicate (zart) but healthy man. 2 (Plates 6-8)
Kafka's first medical record from his October 1, 1907, examination by Dr. Wilhelm Pollack, a physician working for the Trieste-based Assicurazioni Generali Insurance Company (Assicurazioni Generali, Trieste). https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203760482/6d01cc9c-3053-4137-90a4-1461bc52cdab/content/Plate6a.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (reverse side). https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203760482/6d01cc9c-3053-4137-90a4-1461bc52cdab/content/Plate6b.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>