The Karl-Liebknecht-Haus or ''Karl Liebknecht House'' is the headquarters of the party ''
The Left'' in Germany. It is located between the
Alexanderplatz
() ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...
and
Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in
Berlin-Mitte.
Constructed in 1912 as a factory, the building was purchased by the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
(''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'', KPD) in 1926. It became the seat of its Central Committee and was named in honor of
Karl Liebknecht, the KPD leader who was murdered by a
paramilitary unit
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
in January 1919. After
Adolf Hitler was appointed as
German chancellor, the
Berlin police raided the headquarters, and by March 1, the Nazi
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
flag was flying over the building. Renamed the
Horst Wessel House, the building at first served as a district police station and detention center in which Jews and political opponents were tortured. In 1935, the finance department of the state of
Prussia moved into the building.
Severely damaged during
World War II, the building was repaired in 1948, and the name "Karl Liebknecht House" restored. It housed the
East German Institute for
Marxism-Leninism after 1950.
The building became the headquarters for the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the reformed successor of East Germany's former
ruling party, in May 1990. In 2005, the PDS was renamed "The Left Party PDS" in preparation for its merger with the
Party of Social Justice-Electoral Alternative (WASG). The building continues to serve as the headquarters of the new party, which is called simply "The Left" (
Die Linke
The Left (german: Die Linke; stylised as and in its logo as ), commonly referred to as the Left Party (german: Die Linkspartei, links=no ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of th ...
) after the merger was completed in June 2007.
External links
History of the Karl Liebknecht House (in German)
{{architecture-stub
Buildings and structures in Berlin
Headquarters of political parties