Sunday 1.11.2026 1.00 p.m. - 1.59 p.m.
In 1953, to mark the 70th anniversary of Karl Marx’s death and the 135th anniversary of his birth, the then-young GDR celebrated the Year of Karl Marx. As part of these celebrations, Will Lammert created the Karl Marx bust, which adorned the Senate Hall and later the foyer of Humboldt University in Berlin. Since 1991, it had been stored in the university’s basement out of fear of vandalism. With the end of the GDR, numerous Marx monuments were dismantled or relocated to distance the country from the political systems of the GDR and the Soviet Union. Today, while attitudes toward the figure and his political theories are more nuanced, Karl Marx still sparks controversy. And his bronze bust raises the question of how we want to deal with memories of the GDR in public spaces today.
/ Meeting point: Exhibition “Unveiled: Berlin and Its Monuments” at the Proviantmagazin
/ Free of charge
/ No registration required
