Early life and education
Liebknecht was born in Leipzig in 1871. His father, Wilhelm Liebknecht, was a co-founder of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Karl Liebknecht studied law and political economy.
Literature
Karl Liebknecht
Opposition to Germany’s First World War effort, co-founding the Spartacus League and the Communist Party of Germany, and proclaiming a “Free Socialist Republic” in Berlin in 1918.
Karl Liebknecht was a German socialist politician and revolutionary. A leading figure on the far left of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, he opposed the party’s support for the First World War. On 9 November 1918, he proclaimed Germany a “Free Socialist Republic” from the Berlin Palace. He later co-founded the Communist Party of Germany with Rosa Luxemburg and helped lead the failed Spartacist uprising. Both were captured and summarily executed by Freikorps paramilitaries in January 1919.
Worth knowing
Anti-militarism and the Reichstag
In 1907, Liebknecht was imprisoned for a year for writing an anti-militarist pamphlet. He was elected to the Reichstag in 1912 and later opposed the SPD’s support for Germany’s war effort.
Expulsion and imprisonment
Liebknecht was expelled from the SPD in 1916 because of his views and imprisoned again for leading an anti-war demonstration. He was released shortly before the November Revolution.
The Spartacus League and KPD
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg co-founded the Spartacus League and later the Communist Party of Germany. In December 1918, the Reich Congress of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils rejected his call to establish a soviet republic.
Commemoration in Berlin
Karl Liebknecht is commemorated at the German Resistance Memorial Center at the Bendlerblock in Berlin.
Addresses you can still visit
Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.
Burial place
Friedrichsfelde Socialist Cemetery and Revolution Monument Site
He was buried here after being murdered by counterrevolutionary soldiers in January 1919.
Commemorated here
German Resistance Memorial Center at the Bendlerblock
Karl Liebknecht is commemorated at the German Resistance Memorial Center at the Bendlerblock.
Created here
Prussian Landtag
He helped found the Communist Party of Germany in the building’s ceremonial hall.
Follow the story on foot
These addresses are scattered across the city. Our routes and quests put them in an order that works.