Nischel anniversary: companions remember
In 50 years of history, not only could the monument have a lot to tell, but many contemporary witnesses and other companions also remember.
Klaus Rüdiger, civil engineer
A thousand metres of welding rod
Karl-Marx-Stadt 1963 - Clear traces of the Second World War characterise the city centre: rubble, broken buildings and lots of space define the centre. It is the year in which Klaus Rüdiger moves to Karl-Marx-Stadt to take on a particularly difficult task with the construction of the Karl Marx Monument.
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Veronika Leonhardt, tour guide
"The monument has great significance"
Veronika Leonhardt has been a tour guide in Chemnitz since 2008. On a tour that she organises together with a colleague, the two appear as Karl Marx and his wife Jenny von Westphalen.
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Norbert Engst, honorary historian
The ensemble that no other city in the world has
Norbert Engst is an honorary historian. He specialises in the history and architecture of Chemnitz. Norbert Engst helped with the research for the "DenkMAL Karl Marx" exhibition organised by the City of Chemnitz. What did he find out?
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Sculptor Volker Beier
Two years, two artists, 76 designs
Each of the 174 plates bears his signature: Volker Beier has worked them all by hand. Together with the artist Heinz Schumann, the sculptor designed and produced the writing mirror behind the Karl Marx head. In this interview, he talks about the creative process, difficulties and rejected proposals.
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Karl Joachim Beuchel, then city planning director
"I found that outrageously exaggerated"
Karl Joachim Beuchel was the city planning director of Karl-Marx-Stadt at the time when the Karl Marx Monument was planned and built. He not only witnessed the creative process of the sculptor Lew Kerbel, but also ensured that the monument does not stand in the Stadthallenpark today. In this interview, he recalls this turbulent time.
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