A relief of Karl Marx is hidden in plain sight in the center of Berlin. It’s easy to overlook, but here’s how to find it
Quick Info
The relief of Karl Marx is just one of two on the facade of the Music Academy, which is located across from the Humboldt Forum. The other relief is of Karl Liebknecht.
The two reliefs are made of bronze and was designed by the sculptor Gerhard Rommel in 1988 in what was then East Berlin.
Photo by Chrissie Sternschnuppe@flicker. CC BY-SA.
Both reliefs were created and installed in the two niches on the building to mark the 70th anniversary of the November Revolution.
The location is no coincidence, because on the other side of the Humboldt Forum lies the Lustgarten, where Karl Liebknecht proclaimed the socialist revolution on November .
Both reliefs depict revolutionaries looking at Karl Liebknecht and Karl Marx, respectively. Below them, ordinary people are depicted expressing relief at their liberation from capitalism and the imperial regime.
Photo by Chrissie Sternschnuppe@flickr. CC BY-SA.
The reliefs were erected in 1988, when this part of the city was still socialist East Berlin. However, the socialist revolution of 1918 never took place. The leading figures at the time were Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, who were instead captured and executed by a far-right paramilitary group a few months later.
Read about the place where Karl Liebknecht was murdered
Despite the reunification of Germany and Berlin and the dissolution of socialist East Germany, the relief of Karl Marx still adorns the wall of the Music Academy, not far from Alexanderplatz and Museum Island.
Location:
Schloßplatz 7
10178 Berlin
Family friendly: Yes
Price: Free
