Karl Marx sawed off his right hand (photo) | Information about Germany and travel tips

Neubrandenburg • This bronze statue of Karl Marx was installed in the center of the German city of Neubrandenburg during the GDR. In the early 2000s, the monument needed repairs, was dismantled and lay in storage until the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder of scientific communism, celebrated in 2018.

Then, on the occasion of the anniversary, it was decided to restore the monument here – with private donations. Then they searched for a new place for a long time, as a result, they chose a park with a swan pond. It was no longer possible to return Marx to the central Market Square, where he had stood before – as well as the former name of the square – the name of Karl Marx.

Opening ceremony of the monument to Karl Marx at a new location in 2018

Not the first act of vandalism

This February weekend, as seen in the first photo of the dpa news agency, unknown attackers sawed off (or cut off) the right hand of the sculpture of Karl Marx. The police are investigating. Earlier, the monument was already subjected to an act of vandalism – in the summer of 2020 it was smeared with red paint.

According to the newspaper Nordkurier, the mayor of the city, Silvio Witt, has already made a sharp condemnation of the incident, noting that public space belongs to all residents of the city and requires careful treatment. The politician expressed hope that law enforcement agencies would find and punish those responsible.

Painted monument in Neubrandenburg in 2020

Monuments to Karl Marx in Germany

Note that in Germany now there are about two dozen monuments to Karl Marx. Most of them are located in the eastern federal states. The last one, donated by the Chinese authorities on the occasion of the 200th anniversary, was installed in 2018 in the homeland of the philosopher – in the city of Trier.

In 2010, the figure of Karl Marx also appeared on the facade of the Old Town Hall in Cologne, which is decorated with images of historical figures and celebrities who left their mark on the history of this city. Next to Karl Marx, there is a sculpture of Heinrich Becker (Hermann Heinrich Becker) – nicknamed “Red Becker” disciple and follower of Marx, Mayor of Cologne in 1875-1885.

See also:

Political monuments of Berlin
Berlin “Museon”
Many monuments that used to stand on the streets of Moscow, but were dismantled after the collapse of the USSR, can now be seen in the capital’s Muzeon art park. In Berlin, the history of such political sculptures and monuments, created in different periods of German history, is devoted to an exhibition in the Spandau Citadel. The latest addition here was a 3.5-ton head of Lenin made of Ukrainian granite…

Political monuments of Berlin
Renaissance citadel
Near the entrance to the citadel, built on the banks of the river Havel in the second half of the 16th century, visitors are greeted by such a Prussian eagle. It is considered one of the best preserved Renaissance fortresses in Europe. This Berlin landmark is already worthy of all attention, but we will proceed through the courtyard straight to the museum building.

Political monuments of Berlin
Many centuries under one roof
For the first time this building – a food warehouse – appeared on the plan of the fortress in 1578. During the “Third Reich”, a military chemical laboratory was located here, for the arrangement of which the floors were removed. The high halls formed in this way are now very well suited for monumental monuments: from Prussian times to those created in the GDR.

Political monuments of Berlin
First exhibits
Here are not only originals removed from the city at different times and for various ideological reasons, but also copies of sculptures that can still be seen in Berlin. In the building next door there is a documentary exhibition telling about their history. Among the copies are the geniuses of the places where the Prussian army defeated the Napoleonic troops during the Wars of Liberation of 1813-1815.

Political monuments of Berlin
Monument on Mount Kreuzberg
The national monument in honor of the Wars of Independence, created in 1818-1821 by the order of the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm III, is located in the park on the Kreuzberg mountain. Plaster copies of the cast-iron figures located on this neo-Gothic monument were made in the 1980s. Four of them are now in the Spandau Citadel.

Political monuments of Berlin
Margrave and geniuses
Only a few sculptures stand here on high pedestals. In most cases, in order to consider them, you don’t have to lift your head, and you can come close. On the left – the genius of Großgerschen, where the first battle between Napoleon and the combined Russian-Prussian army took place, it is also the Battle of Lützen. On the right – the genius of Leipzig, where the Battle of Nations took place, and in the center – an exhibit from the next room.

Political monuments of Berlin
Albrecht Bear
The exposition is based on sculptures created for the monumental Victory Alley in the Tiergarten. This boulevard was founded in 1895 under Wilhelm II. Monuments to all the margraves and electors of Brandenburg and the kings of Prussia were erected here – from the founder of the Brandenburg brand Albrecht the Bear (1100 – 1170) to the first German emperor Wilhelm I (1797 – 1888).

Political monuments of Berlin
Alley of Victory
In total, there were almost a hundred sculptures on Victory Alley. The Brandenburg and Prussian rulers were portrayed in full growth, and busts of personalities who became famous in their times were installed nearby. In addition to generals, nobles, architects and bishops, Immanuel Kant, Johann Sebastian Bach and Alexander von Humboldt were among them. Sharp-tongued Berliners called this boulevard “Doll Alley”.

Political monuments of Berlin
After the war
In 1938, they were moved to another part of the Tiergarten – to where, according to Hitler’s plans to create a new capital, the “Forum of the Second Reich”, that is, Kaiser’s Germany, was to appear. During the war, the sculptures were badly damaged. For the victorious allies, they were symbols of Prussian militarism, so in 1950 most of the monuments were dismantled and later buried near Bellevue Castle.

Political monuments of Berlin
Prussian militarism
In 1978, the monuments were removed from the ground, placed in storage, and in 2009 transferred to Spandau. The previous photo, which shows the figures of the founders of Berlin, Margraves Johann I and Otto III, was taken just during the transport. The museum decided to leave the exhibits without restoration, that is, with traces of history and time, limiting themselves to urgent work on their conservation.

Political monuments of Berlin
First king
In one of the rooms of the exposition in Spandau, they tried to recreate the atmosphere of the Prussian Victory Alley – visually and acoustically. In the center is this image of Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg from the Hohenzollern family, who in 1701 received the Prussian royal crown. In the next hall, visitors move to another era…

Political monuments of Berlin
Weimar Republic
In 1918, after the First World War, Kaiser’s Germany was replaced by the democratic Weimar Republic. More than two million German soldiers died on the battlefields. Monuments to them began to be erected in almost every district of Berlin, but the central monument was never created. In the photo – a monument to the dead railway workers, opened in 1928.

Political monuments of Berlin
“Decathlete”
The official art of the “Third Reich” was entirely subordinated to propaganda. Most of the monuments of this period disappeared along with Nazi Germany. Among Hitler’s favorite sculptors was Arno Breker. A 1936 model of his Decathlete is displayed in Spandau. After the war, she went to the British military and was on the territory of one of the Berlin barracks until 1996.

Political monuments of Berlin
Speer’s plans
Sculptures like the Decathlete were supposed to adorn Nazi monumental structures. Plans drawn up by Hitler’s architect Albert Speer called for the demolition of entire Berlin districts and the construction of “Germany” here – the new capital of the Reich and the world. The central building was to be this assembly hall, 320 meters high, designed for 150,000 people.

Political monuments of Berlin
Leader of the proletariat
The last section of the exhibition is devoted to the monuments that appeared in East Berlin during the GDR. This almost 20-meter monument, designed by the sculptor Nikolai Tomsky, was supposed to become an eternal symbol of German-Soviet friendship, but stood for only forty years. In 1991-1992, the monument was dismantled into more than a hundred parts, which were then buried in one of the forest parks near Berlin.

Political monuments of Berlin
Goodbye, Lenin!
The scene of the dismantling of the monument was later reproduced in the cult tragicomedy “Good Bye, Lenin!”. In 2015, when work on a new exhibition in Spandau was in full swing, it was found, dug up and taken to the fortress. All this was accompanied by discussions about whether it would become a place of pilgrimage for adamant Leninists, but scientific and historical interests prevailed.

Political monuments of Berlin
Sandy Felix
About 200 thousand people took part in the opening ceremony of the Lenin memorial in 1970. In turn, this monument to the founder of the Cheka Felix Dzerzhinsky, made of sandstone, was hidden from the eyes of the East Berlin public. He was on the territory of the Ministry of State Security of the GDR (“Stasi”) in the Lichtenberg district.

Political monuments of Berlin
Unofficial collaborator
The monument was erected in 1983. According to the organizers of the exhibition, its creator Manfred Zalov even made a special trip to Moscow to study monumental art. After the reunification of Germany, it turned out that he was also an unofficial member of the Stasi. In 1990, after the dissolution of the MGB, Dzerzhinsky was sent to the museum depot. Now it can be seen in Spandau.

Political monuments of Berlin
border guards
Opposite Dzerzhinsky, a pair of East German soldiers armed with machine guns froze forever at their post. The sculpture was commissioned five years after the start of construction of the Berlin Wall for a monument to fallen border guards on Jerusalem Street. However, later they decided to erect another monument there, and this one ended up in front of the barracks of the training regiment in the Wilhelmshagen area.

Political monuments of Berlin
Information for visitors
You can get to the Spandau Citadel from the center of Berlin by public transport by metro (U7, stop “Zitadelle”) or S-Bahn (S5, stop “Spandau”). The citadel is open to the public 365 days a year (10:00 – 17:00, Thursdays – from 13:00 – 20:00).
Author: Maxim Nelyubin