Karl Liebknecht is most well known as an idol of the far left in his profound rebukes of militarism and overwhelming support for Communist ideals. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Germany. He was also one of the key instigators of the Spartacus Uprising, against right-wing elements, in January of 1919. He was arrested twice on political grounds, the first was due to his publication Spartacus League which was declared illegal and therefore he was forced to join the army during WWI. He refused to fight and so had to bury the dead, he became increasingly ill and was allowed to return to Germany early, in October of 1915. He was later arrested due to his involvement in an anti-War demonstration on 1 May 1916 in which he was found guilty of high treason and sentanced to 2 and 1/2 years imprisonment which was later increased to 4 years 1 month. Notably, Liebknecht was murdered along with Rosa Luxemburg by the Freikorps on January 15th 1919, after the failed Spartacus Uprising.
1 - During the National Socialist rise to power, the graves of both Liebknecht and Luxemburg were levelled in the summer of 1941, the grave stones themselves were hidden by a cemetary worker and were later given to the museum of German History.
2 - After the Second World War and the division of Berlin into East and West, Liebknecht became a very important figure in the history of the GDR; seen as a martyr and as an example of the socialist history of Germany and as such justified the Soviet control of the Eastern half of Germany. A street previously named Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße, was renamed Liebknecht-Straße in 1947, which joins Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße. The bridge crossing to the Spree Island was rebuilt in 1950 was renamed Liebnektbrücke. The significance of street names has been debated by some but it seems clear that renaming one of the largest streets in Berlin after a very left-wing political figure post National Socialism creates a very strong message. That this was a man that was important enough to have a street named after him, others being Stalinalle for example. The significance here was clear, that this man showed the inherent socialist past of Berlin and of Germany and that he had given the ultimate sacrifice, i.e. his life, in order to fight for Communist ideals.
3 - Perhaps the most bizarre comemoration of Liebknecht is in the removal of the royal balcony from the badly damaged Palace before it was demolished in 1962, to the facade of the building adjacent, The State Council Building. Initially, it seems like a strange piece of architecture to save given that the Communists were wholly anti-monarchy. However, it was from this balcony on the 9th November 1918 that Liebknecht declared Germany a 'free Socialist Republic' (freie sozialistische Republik). Indeed, an East German mural to the event still adorns the side of the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin.
4 - The foundation stone for a monument to Karl Liebknecht was laid on 13 August 1951 at Potsdamer Platz and was stranded in the death strip after the erection of the Wall through the middle of the square in 1961. It wasn't until 2002 that the monument was restored in order to show the anti-militarist history of Berlin. The strange situation regarding the Denkmal at Potsdamer Platz only serves to show the uncertainty of the time after World War Two and as such the location could not have been less well picked. Even now, it is located at the top of a u-bahn entrance and is barely looked at by anyone walking past. The fact that the monument was not finished until 2002 again shows the uncertainty of the memorial itself. After the unification of Berlin, any figures that were deemed martyrs by the Socialists were generally eradicated from the streets of Berlin. However, Liebknecht was anti-military and was murdered by the National Socialists and as such indicates that there was a strong resistance to the National Socialists in Germany.
5 - On the annual commemoration of the murder of Liebknecht and Luxemburg in January 1992, protestors took stones from the recently destroyed Lenin monument - Memorial of Socialists - and buried them next to the gravestones of Liebknecht and Luxemburg. Könczöl suggests that this ironically (perhaps unintentionally) indicates the lack of commemoration of the biggest figures of Communist history but that Liebknecht and Luxemburg are seen as the most important for the far left in Berlin today and are still very well known throughout Germany (p.77).
As with most political figures, they are used by the powers that be to exemplify their own ideals about the country they are governing. That does not mean that the people who walk along Karl-Liebknecht-Straße or who take a moment to look at the monument as they're rushing for the u-bahn don't come to their own conclusions. For me, it is important to see that elements of resistance can still be noted on the streets of Berlin. It is all too often that the history of Berlin seems too simplified; Kaiser - WWI - depression - Nazis - Communists - Unification - Capitalism. In fact the history of Berlin is as intricate and as complex as any a city, perhaps even more so. Indications of the intricacy, however unstable and frought with political persuasion, still serve to remind those who want to know, that in all history there is always resistance. Even if Liebknecht's views are too strong for some, it is reasurring to know that an alternative history was possible, is possible, and will be possible in all the years to come.