The memorial to them at the cemetery entrance was put up by the East German government in 1951 two men were handing out leaflets calling for a five-hour working week Just outside the cemetery a speaker was urging unity Newspaper sellers from a variety of tiny Leninist groups wandered through the crowd who has been active in the German (originally West German) left since the late 1980s The march used to attract thousands of anti-fascists and autonomists but in recent years has been dominated by ‘lame and boring old-school Leninists and authoritarian groups’ and the ‘old-school social democrats’ of Die Linke each group commemorates its own version of Luxemburg Frank was ten minutes’ walk inside the cemetery at the site of Mies Van Der Rohe’s 1926 memorial There were around thirty people – almost all men – standing round in the soft rain carrying the black and red flag of Antifaschistische Aktion was talking about Luxemburg and Liebknecht’s murder and the Sozialdemokratische Partei leadership’s responsibility for it an anti-fascist originally from Göttingen pointing out the graves and memorials of other less well-known communists and trade unionists In some sections the gravestones are identical slabs of plain granite Van Der Rohe’s memorial was torn down by the Nazis and never rebuilt The East German government was suspicious of modernism but it also associated the memorial with the Kommunistische Partei and the interwar split between the communists and social democrats For the Sozialistische Einheitspartei (Socialist Unity Party) this fatal split was never to be repeated What stands there now is a much smaller structure This site requires the use of Javascript to provide the best possible experience Please change your browser settings to allow Javascript content to run Leftwingers commemorate 100th anniversary of murder of the communist writer Negar Mohseni clutched a red carnation and waited patiently under cold drizzly skies as the queue slowly snaked its way towards the grave of Rosa Luxemburg “I simply want to pay my respects,” said the 54-year-old Iranian she gives me the strength and motivation to continue to believe in the fight for social justice.” A thick carpet of red blooms smothered the grave of the early 20th-century revolutionary leader and that of her fellow leftist agitator Karl Liebknecht at the Friedrichsfelde central cemetery in eastern Berlin Both were murdered at the age of 47 on 15 January 100 years ago Someone had left a note in a shaky hand that read “Peace People wiped away tears as they laid their flowers Although Liebknecht is held in high regard it is Luxemburg who has been stealing the limelight according to Mark Jones – assistant professor at University College Dublin and a leading expert on the German revolution of 1918-19 that culminated in the murders – because “she was a high achiever who rose in the very male-dominated world of Social Democratic politics” Kit Aastrup a retired social worker from Denmark: ‘History might well have taken a different turn had Rosa been able to fulfil her wishes.’ Photograph: Kate Connolly/The GuardianShe was considered a great orator and a prolific writer cherished today by her leftwing supporters due to her opposition to the first world war and her fight for the rights of the working class as well as the fact that her early death meant her reputation was not blemished by later disillusionments with the communist dream Her name retains its popularity as a choice for her supporters’ female offspring along with portraits of her and Liebknecht were held high on the red banners clutched by people as they made their way along the former Stalin Allee in eastern Berlin on Sunday with hearty renditions of the Internationale and other revolutionary songs blaring out of portable speakers the brutal and sudden end to her story raises the question of what would have happened if she had survived,” said Jones the Rosa Luxemburg myth claims that had she lived National Socialism may have never taken control of Germany.” That was a view held by many at the demonstration “I do believe the Nazis might not have come to power and history might well have taken a different turn had Rosa been able to fulfil her wishes,” said Kit Aastrup a retired social worker who had taken a bus from Aarhus in Denmark to join the march A group calling themselves the “Yellow Vests” held a banner across the width of the street that read: “Remembering Karl and Rosa in 2019 means showing solidarity with the ‘yellow vests’.” Flowers on a memorial to Rosa Luxemburg at the Tiergarten park near the river Landwehrkanalin in Berlin Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPAOn the sidelines a team from the British communist newspaper Morning Star was doing a roaring trade the communist eagle,” ran the headline on its inside feature story on Luxemburg referring to the affectionate title Lenin gave to the German communist The article concludes: “Even after 100 years [her] memory still soars like an eagle to inspire revolutionary socialists all over the world.” which sees itself as the natural inheritor of Luxemburg’s legacy guides tourists around the Berlin landmarks connected to the murders the hotel where Luxemburg and Liebknecht were brought by demobilised former soldiers It continues to the location where Luxemburg’s body was thrown into the canal the Neuen See lake where Liebknecht was shot and killed “She thought she was going to be taken to prison she had no idea she was going to be murdered so she brought a suitcase of books with her,” Hiksch said Rosa Luxemburg Photograph: AlamyFar from uniting Germany’s left still felt keenly today in the animosities that exist between the Social Democratic party (SPD) the junior coalition partner to Angela Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democrats successors to the communist party that ruled East Germany Andrea Nahles became the first leader of the SPD to come close to admitting her party’s role in the revolutionaries’ deaths the minister of defence in the SPD-led fledgling Weimar government at the time effectively signed off on the murders in an effort to crush the far left “It is probable that Gustav Noske had a hand in the murders of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht,” she told the party faithful in November at an event to discuss the 1919 revolt Noske was later involved in the farcical trials that followed the murders and that led to the acquittal of all but two of the suspects “The SPD has a very difficult relationship with the 1918-19 revolution,” said Jones “While various party historians openly admit the SPD’s role in the events Karl Liebknecht speaking at a peace rally in Berlin Photograph: ullstein bild Dtl./ullstein bild via Getty ImagesEven now Die Linke supporters argued that just as the SPD betrayed the working class then so it continued to do with its labour reforms The London writer David Fernbach was among those who came to Berlin to pay tribute to Luxemburg and Liebknecht the Marxist revolutionary movement founded by Luxemburg and Liebknecht in reaction to the SPD’s support for the first world war Wolfgang was murdered by government troops on 11 January 1919 “Luxemburg made a huge contribution to the positive sides of German socialism at a time when it was free from the dogmatisms that were to follow which is why I think she remains something of an untainted socialist icon today,” Fernbach said Actors in historic costumes perform in a royal court ball during the Rococo festival at the Friedrichsfelde Palace The Rococo Festival brings back the splendid royal lives and flavors during the reign of Friedrich II King of Prussia dated back to 18th century A pair of actors perform the royal fencing during the Rococo festival at the Friedrichsfelde Palace An actor shows the acrobatic skill with his pet bird during the Rococo festival at the Friedrichsfelde Palace Visitors watch the Mahjong introduced from China to Germany some 250 years ago during the Rococo festival at the Friedrichsfelde Palace A pair of actors in the Rococo festival perform the episode of a fairy tales in the Friedrichsfelde Palace Actors in the Rococo Festival present themselves in flamboyant costumes on the square of the Friedrichsfelde Palace Actors in historic costumes perform during the Rococo festival at the Friedrichsfelde Palace