Erection date: 1956
{Incised in gold letters in the granite:}
Workers of all lands unite
Karl Marx
{On an old white marble stone:}
Jenny von Westphalan, the beloved wife of Karl Marx, born 12th February 1814, died 2nd December 1881.
And Karl Marx, born May 5th 1818, died March 14th 1883.
And Harry Longuet, their grandson, born July 4th 1878, died March 20th 1883.
And Helena Demuth, born January 1st 1823, died November 4th 1890.
And Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl Marx, born January 16th 1856, died March 31st 1898.
{Incised in gold letters in the granite:}
The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point is to change it.
Bronze head on granite plinth with gold leaf inscriptions.
Site: Karl Marx grave (1 memorial)
N6, Swain's Lane, Highgate Cemetery - East
As a rule we don't "do" graves but here's an exception. More a memorial than a grave this edifice has always attracted huge numbers of visitors. In 1884, on the first anniversary of Marx's death, between 5 and 6,000 people marched from Tottenham Court Road to the grave only to be turned away by police who, afraid of riots, had closed the cemetery. Marx was initially buried about 100m north but in 1956, in response to the interest in the grave, it was moved to its present location and this impressive memorial erected, funded by the British Communist Party. The original gravestone is incorporated into the plinth. A ceremony is still held here annually on the anniversary of his death, to the minute, at 2.30 pm.
Is Marx's grave a communist plot?
A scene in the 1966 film ‘Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment’ was intended to take place at this grave but filming on the site was prohibited so the grave was reconstructed in Kensal Rise cemetery, where filming was allowed. (Reported on the Radio 4 programme “Free Thinking” by Stephen Frears, an assistant director on the film.) We will have to watch the film again.
