Czech literary cultural heritage is filled with rich tradition that reflects the country's complex history and diverse influences. A living proof is the Czech National Library, where you can explore this diverse literary tradition.

Under the Habsburgs, the literary traditions of the past two centuries were proscribed, and it was only among political exiles that Czech literature survived at all. Among these exiles Jan Ámos Komenský (John Amos Comenius) was preeminent. His Latin works on education and theological problems and his works in Czech revealed him as a writer and thinker of European stature. His Labyrint světa a ráj srdce (1631; “Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart”) stands as one of Czech literature’s great achievements in prose.

With the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state in 1918, Czech literature flourished. Czech drama came into its own in the idealistic and satirical plays of Karel Čapek . Čapek’s best plays exposed the threats of a centralized, mechanized society of the 20th century: R.U.R. (1920), which introduced the word robot into English, and Ze života hmyzu (1921; The Insect Play). 

Shortly after World War I ended Hašek began his sequence of novels called Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války (1921–23; The Good Soldier Schweik). 

In the period between 1918 and 1945, the lyric poetry of Jaroslav Seifert exhibited great vitality and variety, with work of the highest quality being produced. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1984.

After the democratic revolution of 1989, freer literature flourished, and the playwright Václav Havel, who had been a dissident, became president of Czechoslovakia and, later, of the Czech Republic.

Czech literature has also been deeply connected to Jewish tradition throughout history. Renowned Czech writer Franz Kafka was of Jewish descent, and you can explore more in Franz Kafka Museum dedicated to his life and work.