Robert Klopstock and Franz Kafka--the friends from Tatranské Matliare (the High Tatras).

The paper summarises the accessible literature on the life and work of well-known American lung surgeon, Professor Dr. Med. Robert Klopstock, who was in the years 1920-1924 a friend Franz Kafka. Professor Klopstock was of Hungarian origin and he got acquainted with Franz Kafka at the end of the year 1920 in Tatranské Matliare (The High Tatras). They were both patients treated for lung tuberculosis. They became close friends and their mutual correspondence shows their real friendship. Robert Klopstock was present at Franz Kafka's death-bed on June 3, 1924 in Kierling, near Klosterneuburg, not far from Vienna. Robert Klopstock studied at Medical Faculties of the Universities in Budapest, Prague, Kiel and Berlin. After his graduation in 1933 in Berlin, he worked as a lung surgeon at various surgical clinics and departments in Budapest and Berlin. In 1936 Robert Klopstock together with his wife visited the High Tatras and Tatranské Matliare. In 1937 Robert Klopstock with his wife Gizela, a writer and a translator, who translated the first chapters of Franz Kafka's novel "Trial" into Hungarian language, went to United States of America. During his stay in U.S.A. Dr. Med. Robert Klopstock was very active as a lung surgeon and a scientist. He published 64 specialized scientific papers, mostly in American medical journals. He became Professor of Lung Surgery at Downstate Medical Centre in New York-Brooklyn. He died on June 15, 1972 in New York.