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 Communist Correspondence Committee

“Cradle of all communist parties”

In their disagreement with the German philosophers and utopian Socialists, Marx and Engels decide to take action in line with the views they are in the process of forming. They want to create an organization that operates on the basis of “scientific communism” – and win over the European proletariat to their convictions.

18 people are founding members of the committee. Along with Marx and Engels, these include Marx’s wife Jenny and her brother Edgar von Westphalen, Moses Hess and Philippe Gigot, the poet Ferdinand Freiligrath and Georg Weerth, the journalists Joseph Weydemeyer and Hermann Kriege – along with Wilhelm Weitling, tailor, utopian communist and co-founder of the League of the Just.

The Correspondence Committee will later be seen as the cradle of all communist parties. But at this point, its main goal is to establish contact between German, French and English socialists. They hope to examine, exchange, disseminate and scientifically criticize the various ideas about socialism and communism currently in circulation. This evidently takes place over several nights while carousing together in Brussels.