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Karl Marx Monument

Karl Marx Monument is a monumental sculpture in Chemnitz showing a stylized head of Karl Marx. It stands 7.1 meters high, or more than 13 meters including the base, and weighs around forty tons. The work was realized from a design by Soviet artist Lew Kerbel and inaugurated in 1971. Located in the city center on Brückenstraße near the junction with Straße der Nationen, it is Chemnitz’s best-known landmark. The monument is the second-largest portrait bust in the world, after a Lenin head in Ulan-Ude. Behind it is a wall bearing the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!” in four languages.

Karl Marx Monument, a large dark bust on a tall granite pedestal, with a modern building behind it.
The Karl Marx Monument stands before a modern building with text-covered facades in Chemnitz.
July 2022 © · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Karl Marx Monument in front of a modern building, with people gathered in the square below.
The Karl Marx Monument stands before a modern building in Chemnitz’s public square.
April 2022 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Karl Marx Monument beside a crowd gathered for an outdoor event, with a building facade behind it bearing a multilingual slogan.
The Karl Marx Monument stands before a large building facade during a public outdoor gathering.
© · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Karl Marx Monument in Chemnitz framed by two banners reading \
The Karl Marx Monument in Chemnitz is shown between two banners carrying the slogan \"Chemnitz ist weder grau noch braun.\"
September 2018 © Dr. Bernd Gross · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Identification

TitleKarl Marx Monument
SubjectKarl Marx
Depicted formStylized head of Karl Marx
Original German nameKarl-Marx-Monument
TypeMonument / sculpture
Alternative namesKarl-Marx-Kopf; Nischel; Bashka; dor Nischl

Historical context

Commissioned afterChemnitz and its district were renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt on 10 May 1953
Purpose of commissionTo honor Karl Marx and symbolize the city’s socialist transformation
Commissioning authorityGovernment of the GDR
Commissioning year context1968 was the 70th anniversary of Karl Marx’s death; the GDR also marked a Karl Marx Year in 1953, 1968, and 1983

Creator

Designer / sculptorLew Kerbel (Lev Kerbel), Soviet artist and sculptor

Discovery and provenance

Place of manufactureLeningrad, at the Monument Skulptura art foundry
Selection processThe client chose one of 17 sketches proposed by Kerbel

Materials

Pedestal material originSouthern Ukraine
Pedestal materialKorninskij granite slabs
Main materialBronze

Technique

Construction methodCast in bronze, then divided into 95 parts and welded together
Assembly contractorVEB Germania
Assembly issueSoviet welding technology was considered unsuitable, so the work was transferred to VEB Germania

Physical characteristics

Height7.1 m
Total height with pedestalmore than 13 m
Weightabout 40 tonnes
BaseThe monument stands on two pedestals and includes a base platform

Appearance

Stylistic descriptionStylized portrait head
Reason for designA full-body design was rejected because the viewer would have seen Marx’s shoes at eye level

Iconography and meaning

Inscription locationOn the wall behind the monument
Inscription“Workers of all countries, unite!”
Inscription languagesGerman, English, French, and Russian
Inscription sourceThe Communist Manifesto

Location and ownership

Current locationBrückenstraße, central Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany
Original unveiling locationKarl-Marx-Allee, now Brückenstraße, in Karl-Marx-Stadt
Nearby settingNear the junction with Straße der Nationen, with the city concert hall, Hotel Merkur, and Galerie nearby
Background wallPart of the former District Council building area known as the Parteisäge; the wall is now behind the monument and the State Office for Taxes and Finances is located there
Local nicknameNischel
Nickname meaningA local dialect word for head or skull
Area nicknameThe area around the monument was called Schädelstätte, also rendered as Nischelgasse or Skull Alley

History and restoration

Demolition debateThe proposed demolition caused heated debate when the city reverted from Karl-Marx-Stadt to Chemnitz
Media and cultural usesAppeared on a GDR 35-pfennig stamp; used in the 2013 Seeed music video 'Deine Zeit'
Use during GDR holidaysBackdrop for parades and mass events
RestorationSockel renovation from late 2011 to 4 April 2012 to repair water and moisture damage
Unveiling attendanceabout 250,000 people
Post-unification statusRemained in Chemnitz after German reunification despite debate over demolition
Attendees at unveilingErich Honecker and Robert-Jean Longuet, Karl Marx’s great-great-grandson
Unveiling date9 October 1971
Completion date1971

Significance

City landmark statusBest-known and most famous monument in Chemnitz
Size rankingSecond-largest portrait bust in the world, after the Lenin head in Ulan-Ude
Historical significanceSymbol of the city of Karl-Marx-Stadt and of socialism
Local mottoUntil 2007 the city slogan 'Stadt mit Köpfchen' (“city with brains”) referred to the monument
Related eventsFocal point of media coverage during the 2018 unrest in Chemnitz