In the cold January of 1919, chaos reigns in Berlin. The First World War is over; the Empire has been overthrown. Germany is becoming a republic—yet much remains uncertain. Who is to assume power? How is the country to move forward?
During this time, two figures stand at the center of events: Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.
Both fight for a just society. They demand that workers no longer be oppressed. They want the people to have a say in their own governance. They reject violence—instead, they fight with words, with ideas, and with conviction.
Karl Liebknecht is a lawyer and an anti-militarist. He was one of the few members of parliament to oppose the war. Rosa Luxemburg is a brilliant woman of strong will. She writes, speaks, and organizes—firmly believing that true change can only be achieved with the people, not over their heads.
Together, they found the Spartacus Group, which later evolves into the KPD—the Communist Party of Germany. In January 1919, uprisings erupt in Berlin. Many workers go on strike, occupy newspaper offices, and demand that power be vested in workers’ councils rather than in parliament. Liebknecht supports the uprising. Luxemburg is more cautious, yet she does not oppose it.
The government—led by the SPD under Friedrich Ebert—seeks to restore order and calls upon the so-called Freikorps for assistance. These are armed militias composed of former soldiers who oppose the revolution and act with brutal force.
On January 15, 1919, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht are arrested—not by the police, but by members of the Freikorps. That very night, both are murdered. Karl Liebknecht is shot dead here in the Tiergarten—under the pretext that he was “attempting to escape.” Rosa Luxemburg is bludgeoned to death with a rifle butt and thrown into the Landwehr Canal. Her body is not recovered until months later.
Today, many believe that these murders were committed not merely with the tacit approval—but under the direct responsibility—of leading SPD politicians. Gustav Noske, then Minister of Defense, said: “Someone has to play the bloodhound.”
With the deaths of Liebknecht and Luxemburg, it was not merely two people who died—a part of the hope for a different, more social society in Germany died as well.
Rosa Luxemburg wrote shortly before her death: “I was, I am, I shall be.”
To this day, many remember her. Every year, thousands in Berlin visit her grave to pay their respects.
And this monument in Berlin’s Tiergarten, not far from the Landwehr Canal, commemorates the assassination of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg on January 15, 1919.
Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
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Andere Stationen in dieser Audiotour:
A Brief Excursion into Berlin's History (7:59 min) • St. Nicholas' Church / St. Nicholas' Quarter (2:49 min) • Newspaper District (4:28 min) • Checkpoint Charlie (1:55 min) • Former Gestapo Headquarters (2:57 min) • Former Tempelhof Airport (3:46 min) • 7 Wannsee Conference (4:45 min) • Walther Rathenau Memorial (2:34 min) • Olympic Stadium / 1936 Olympic Games (5:36 min) • Commune 1 (2:27 min) • Benno Ohnesorg / Student Movement (2:16 min) • Rolf Eden (1:54 min) • Café Kranzler (2:08 min) • Kurfürstendamm (3:03 min) • Zoo Palace (3:47 min) • Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (2:22 min) • Schöneberg Town Hall (2:33 min) • Former Sportpalast / Sportpalast Speech (5:12 min) • Bendlerblock/Stauffenberg assassination attempt (4:47 min) • Kroll Opera House / Enabling Act (3:09 min) • Reichstag Building (4:14 min) • Reichstag Fire (4:28 min) • Brandenburg Gate (2:52 min) • People's Court (3:08 min) • Potsdamer Place (2:58 min) • Former "Führerbunker" (5:06 min) • "Tresor" (Safe) (1:43 min) • Popular Uprising in the GDR (2:11 min) • Reich Chancellery / Hitler's Seizure of Power (5:11 min) • "Die weiße Maus" (The White Mouse) (2:57 min) • Friedrichstraße Station / "Tränenpalast" (Palace of Tears) (3:46 min) • Humboldt University (1:56 min) • Berlin Palace (5:04 min) • Red City Hall (2:30 min) • Alexanderplatz (2:30 min) • Otto Weidt's Workshop for the Blind / Anne Frank Center (2:05 min) • Hackesche Höfe (5:21 min) • Rosenthaler Platz (2:58 min) • St. Sophia's Church (3:03 min) • Sophie-Gips Courtyards (2:08 min) • Koppenplatz (3:16 min) • Clärchen's Dance Hall (3:54 min) • New Synagogue (2:19 min) • Berliner Ensemble (3:55 min) • Friedrichstadt-Palast (4:02 min) • Dorotheenstadt Cemetery (2:25 min) • Bloody May (2:18 min) • Humboldthain Flak Tower (5:17 min) • Chris Gueffroy and the Victims of the Wall (1:28 min) • Tunnel 57 / Egon Schultz (2:40 min) • AMIGA (1:37 min) • Bernauer Street (4:07 min) • Former Bornholmer Straße Border Crossing (3:26 min) • Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sports Park (3:43 min) • Mauerpark (4:07 min) • Arkonaplatz (3:03 min) • Zion Church (3:44 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Fire Station (3:18 min) • Hirschhof (2:41 min) • Freya Klier (2:28 min) • Prater (2:28 min) • Oderberger Straße Municipal Baths (3:36 min) • Oderberger Street 2 (1:58 min) • Currywurst (2:16 min) • Konnopke's Snack Bar (2:43 min) • Gethsemane Church (2:09 min) • Museum in the Kulturbrauerei (1:06 min) • Kulturbrauerei (3:24 min) • Frannz-Club (2:31 min) • Husemann Street (1:58 min) • Jews' Passage (3:32 min) • Prenzlauer Berg Water Tower (2:37 min) • Rosa Luxemburg Square (4:34 min) • Mont Klamott (1:43 min) • Samaritan Church (2:23 min) • Former Stasi Headquarters / Stasi Museum (2:48 min) • Berlin-Karlshorst Museum / Unconditional Surrender (2:54 min) • East Side Gallery (2:59 min) • House Squatting in the 1980s (2:34 min)
