Karl-Marx-Monument / Brueckenstrasse

This panorama depicts the building of the former Rat des Bezirkes Karl-Marx-Stadt (counsel of the GDR district Karl-Marx-Stadt) and in front of it the Karl-Marx-Monument by Lew Kerbel. Also called the Nischl by the people, the Karl-Marx-Monument is the most familiar landmark of the city Chemnitz and also the second biggest portraiture bust in the world. It was created following the renaming of the city into Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1953. Behind the monument der writing “Proletarier aller Länder vereinigt Euch!” (Workers of the world unite!) from the communist manifest is installed on the building in four languages (german, russian, english, french). After the renaming of the city to Chemnitz in 1990 repeated discussions on the handling of the monument started and finally it became a staying landmark. The building in the back, in typical GDR architecture, is also called “Parteisäge” (party saw) amongst people, referring to its function as the seat of the SED (eastern german main party) district administration during the 1980s.