Both these writers lived in Praha at the same time, in the beginning of the 20th century. It was a tough time, so it's not surprising that it affected the writers deeply.
But I had no idea of them being contemporaries or compatriots until I read their books. At first I noticed similar motives concerning the authorities in "Process" and "Golem". That's why I looked up in Wikipedia if the writers knew each other, and it turned out that they just lived in the same place.
Recently I've finished reading "The Walpurgis night" by Meyrink, and there I found an intersection with Kafka once more. The beginning of "The Walpurgis night" seems to be sort of reflection of Kafka's "The Castle". Kafka writes about life in the Village ruled by the Castle, which is in some way mythical, though it can be seen from the Village. And in the Meyrink's novel we see the world from the point of view of the Castle. For the people who live there crossing the bridge separating them from the lower part of the city seems to be very dangerous or even impossible.
It's no wonder that the writers described similar things, for they were under similar and rather strong circumstances, but that's really interesting and amusing to find these parallels while reading various books.
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