Visiting the Karl Marx House and Museum

The main activity of the day was a visit to the Karl Marx house and museum.

He was born here in Trier, Germany on May 5, 1818.  Marx was a philosopher, economist sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist.

The house where he was born was built around 1727 and was rebuilt and enlarged.  It was "rediscovered" in 1904 and bought by the Social Democratic Party of Germany.  In May of 1933 the Nazis seized the building and used it as the residence of their district leader.  The house was opened as a monument in 1947.

We were given headsets in English and began our walk through the house.

Beginning with the early years, he was the third of nine children, born Jewish, but later he was baptized into the Lutheran Church so he could practice law.  He was educated at the University of Bonn, wanting to study philosophy and literature , but his father said law was more practical.  He later transferred to the University of Berlin.
In 1836 he became engaged to Jenny Von Westphalen, an educated baroness, who had known
Marx since childhood.

They were married seven years later.and eventually had  seven children (four of whom died in early childhood).
While in Berlin, he joined the "Doctors Club", a student group and through them, he became involved with a group of radical thinkers known as the Young Hegelians (followers of the German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel).
In 1842, Marx moved to Cologne where he was writing for a radical newspaper, expressing his views on socialism and his interest in economics.
He always had financial difficulties yet he and Jenny lived beyond their means.
In 1844, Marx met German socialist Friedrich Engels, beginning a lifelong friendship.

Engels convinced Marx that the working class would be the agent of the revolution in history.  Marx wrote manuscripts on his theory of scientific socialism.

It was interesting to go through the house and see all the history of Karl Marx. 

It was well presented and the gardens were lovely and peaceful.