Karl-Liebknecht-Haus

The Karl-Liebknecht-Haus on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz was built as an office ensemble in 1910/12 and acquired in 1926 by the KPD as its party headquarters. It is named after the co-founder of the Spartacus League, who was murdered in 1919. During the Weimar Republic central decisions of the German Communists were taken here, and Ernst Thaelmann had his office in the corner room. After the Nazi takeover in 1933 the SA seized the building, renamed it Horst-Wessel-Haus and used its cellar as an early wild concentration camp for political opponents. In the GDR the building again served as a SED district headquarters and offices. Since 1990 it has been the seat of the executive of Die Linke. A large Karl Liebknecht portrait on the facade, created in the 1930s by the Mexican circle around Diego Rivera, recalls the history. The Thaelmann monument by Hans Kies stands in front.