In Trier, Protests on the 200th Anniversary of the Controversial Karl Marx’s Birth

The police in the German city of Trier are preparing for hundreds of protesters who will gather on Saturday as part of the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the most controversial person born in that city – economist and father of communism Karl Marx.

The highlight of the birthday celebration, which officially began on Friday, is expected to occur late on Saturday when a 5.5-meter tall monument to Marx, donated by China, will be unveiled.

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However, the vice president of the PEN writers’ association in Germany has requested that the unveiling of the statue be postponed until Chinese poet Liu Xia, widow of Nobel Prize winner and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, is released from house arrest and allowed to leave China.

Representatives of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) will also be in the city, planning to hold a silent march for the victims of communism, and several vigils for Falun Gong, a Chinese religious movement that is banned in China, will also take place.

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At the same time, a demonstration against “capitalism and exploitation” is planned, organized by a Marxist alliance that includes members of the leftist party Die Linke and the German Communist Party.

The police claim that a counter-protest by the AfD is also planned.

The federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate has set up an exhibition titled “Karl Marx (1818-1883), Life – Work – Influence to This Day” in two museums in the center of Trier, featuring over 400 exhibits from a dozen German states.

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Two partner exhibitions have also been opened at the Cathedral Museum and in the birthplace of Karl Marx.