Amsterdam was the home of Franz Kafka.
 Kafka's troubled relationship with his father is evident in his Brief an den Vater (Letter to His Father) of more than 100 pages, in which he complains of being profoundly affected by his father's authoritarian and demanding character; his mother, in contrast, was quiet and shy
Amsterdam was Europe's most important hub for the shipment of goods and was the leading financial center of the western world

