The Local Germany

Communist Manifesto anniversary: What does Marx still have to say?

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 13:50:21 +0100

On the anniversary of the publication of the Communist Manifesto on February 21st, 1848, we look at its controversial co-author Karl Marx, his beliefs, and what he means to Germany and the world today.

10 fun and important facts about Karl Marx as he turns 200

Fri, 04 May 2018 13:27:48 +0200

Karl Marx was born 200 years ago on Saturday in the small German city of Trier. While he is known now as the father of communism, he led a colourful private life in Germany before being expelled from the country.

99 years since Rosa Luxemburg was murdered and dumped in a Berlin canal

Mon, 15 Jan 2018 14:08:01 +0100

Monday marks the 99th anniversary of the extra-judicial killing of the two most prominent German communists of the early twentieth century. But a memorial which took place on Sunday illustrates just how complicated their legacy is.

Disasters in East Germany: socialism was never at fault

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 19:15:46 +0200

A new documentary based on confidential reports sheds light on what East German officials were hiding from their citizens after accidents: poor work safety, old infrastructure and lousy organization.

German president condemns communism on China visit

Wed, 23 Mar 2016 10:45:59 +0100

Germany's president on Wednesday condemned the illegitimacy of Communist rule in East Germany and lauded the benefits of human rights in a provocative speech to Shanghai university students.

Far-left terrorists' last-gasp spree 'to fund their retirement'

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 09:56:35 +0100

Police have confirmed that DNA from three far-left terrorists who have been on the run for decades was found at the site of two robberies in 2015.

Police grab 'Turkish Communists' in raids

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 19:28:19 +0200

State prosecutors in Karlsruhe said on Thursday that police had captured seven members of the Turkish Communist Party (TKP) in raids across southern and western Germany.

Ikea helps Chemnitz renovate iconic Karl Marx statue

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:50:00 +0200

As Germany's most famous statue of socialist theorist Karl Marx marks its 40th anniversary, Chemnitz is spending nearly €100,000 on cosmetic renovations for the landmark with help from furniture store Ikea.

Kohl blasts portrayals of his private life

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:20:00 +0200

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl has lashed out at media recent and biography portrayals of his private life, saying they have been inaccurate and inappropriate.

Exhibition shows everyday life as communism crumbled

Tue, 17 May 2011 15:40:00 +0200

A new exhibition at the German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin offers insight into everyday life in East Germany and post-communist eastern Europe with never-before-seen photos. Curator Yara-Colette Lemke took The Local on a tour.

Leftists fear becoming ‘attractive as a cow pie’

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:52:00 +0100

Coming on the heels of an unwanted debate about communism, the embattled leader of The Left has rejected criticism of his supposedly opulent lifestyle, saying the socialist party was in danger of becoming “as attractive as a cow pie.”

Left remembers Luxemburg and Liebknecht amid communism row

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 12:49:00 +0100

Leaders of The Left party met in Berlin on Sunday for the traditional laying of a wreath in memory of the murdered socialists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht amid in-fighting over whether communism was still their aim.

Conservatives call for ban on The Left party amid commie flap

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:47:00 +0100

Bavaria's conservative premier Horst Seehofer has backed a call to consider banning the socialist Left party in the wake of controversial comments by its chairwoman Gesine Lötzsch about putting Germany on the path to communism.

Deutsche Bank forced to keep communists' accounts open

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:43:00 +0200

A court spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the far-left Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) had forced financial behemoth Deutsche Bank to abandon legal proceedings to close the communist party's bank accounts.

Eastern German economy grows faster than expected

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:02:00 +0100

Germany's formerly communist eastern states need just 10 more years to match the economic output of the poorest western states, according to a new study released by the IW economic institute in Cologne on Tuesday.

Last East German leader still a convinced socialist

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:16:00 +0200

Communist East Germany's last leader Egon Krenz said this week he still believes socialism will triumph over capitalism in the end, almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Merkel honours Polish freedom struggle and Tiananmen victims

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:13:00 +0200

German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid homage Thursday to the victims of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989 at a ceremony marking the Polish election that ended Warsaw's communist regime 20 years ago.

Rosa Luxemburg's body likely found 90 years after murder

Fri, 29 May 2009 19:05:00 +0200

The corpse of German communist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg, murdered in 1919 by right-wing forces, may have been in the forensic medicine department of Berlin’s Charité hospital for some 90 years, weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday.

Abandoned East German flat discovered 20 years later

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:53:00 +0100

An architect has discovered a Leipzig apartment left untouched for the last 20 years after being abandoned by its East German occupants as the communist state crumbled, daily Berliner Morgenpost reported on Monday.

Thousands pay tribute to fallen communist figures

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:45:00 +0100

Thousands of Germans paid tribute Sunday to two communists 90 years after they were murdered by far-right soldiers during an uprising, police said.