Austerlitz

The narrative turns to Austerlitz’s time in Prague:

The state archives building in Prague (pictured) reminds Austerlitz at once of a prison, an opera house, and a psychiatric institution. After struggling to communicate in Czech, Austerlitz meets an anglophone archivist, Tereza Ambrosová—a pale, 40-year-old woman. In her office, Tereza soothes Austerlitz after he becomes flustered trying to explain his mission. She assures him she’ll be able to complete a records search for the name Austerlitz by the following afternoon.

The next day, Austerlitz returns to the archives building, where he takes photos and Tereza gives him a short list of all Prague residents with his last name. He decides to visit an apartment where a former opera singer named Agáta Austerlitzová lived in 1938 because it’s the nearest address on the list. As Austerlitz walks through a labyrinth of alleys to the apartment, the sights and sounds evoke a flurry of long-repressed memories.

A woman named Vera Ryšanová answers the door of the apartment. She was friends and neighbors with Austerlitz’s parents—Agáta Austerlitzová and Maximilian Aychenwald—and was Austerlitz’s nanny. In shock, the two embrace.

Vera invites Austerlitz into the apartment, which she hasn’t changed since Austerlitz was last there.