Marx as a Migrant – A digital narrative

Karl Marx lived a long life as a migrant. Fleeing from the Prussian state, censorship and possible arrest, important stops on his journey were Paris, Brussels and London. These cities shaped his political activities, his engagement with political fellow-travellers, as well as his intellectual development and thus his entire work.

At the click of a mouse, you can follow Marx as a migrant from city to city. You can not only immerse yourself in his time, but also discover that even today, traces of his life and work continue to be seen in Paris, Brussels and London.

Each station takes about 45 minutes.

Contact: info@marx200.org

Marx as a Migrant

  • Brussels
  • The Poverty of Philosophy

In serious financial straits

Brussels, autumn 1846, Rue d’Orléans. -- Marx is facing serious financial problems. Marx’s publisher, waiting in vain for the Critique of National Economy as had been agreed for months, cancels the contract and demands the author’s advance be returned. No one wants to print the polemic he wrote with Engels against German philosophy and German socialism, either.

In May, the family had already been forced to leave the house in Sint-Joost-ten-Node, and was once again temporarily residing in the Hotel Au Bois Sauvage. When they move into the shabbily furnished house at 42 rue d’Orléans, Jenny Marx is pregnant for the third time. Their son Edgar is born in February 1847.