BERLIN: Germany marked the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx’s birth on Saturday, but celebrations risked being marred by protests as the revolutionary philosopher remains a divisive figure almost three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Marx’s birth city of Trier led commemorations of the man officials describe as a “great son of the city,” with 600 events planned around the 19th-century scholar hailed for foretelling the ills of capitalism.
The centerpiece of the festivities included the unveiling of a 5.5-meter tall statue of the philosopher — a gift from China.
But it is also before the statue that the association representing victims of communism have called protests against the thinker they blame for inspiring Stalinist regimes.
