Tam Eastley investigates the life and death of Berlin’s famous revolutionary, “Red Rosa”…
To those of us living in Berlin, Rosa Luxemburg’s name rings through our ears every time we hop on the U-Bahn heading towards Mitte. Rosa Luxemburg Platz, named after her in 1969, is in the centre of it all—home to the Babylon Kino, Volksbühne, and situated just around the corner from Alexanderplatz.
Wandering around the square, one stumbles upon quotations from the woman some fondly refer to as “Red Rosa”, after the epitaph Bertolt Brecht wrote for her in 1919. Imprinted on the ground in bronze characters, taken from her works and letters, the scattering of quotations (there are 60 in total) express her revolutionary zeal and beliefs.
They are a quiet reminder to the residents and tourists of Berlin of Luxemburg’s monumental impact on the political scene in the early twentieth century. One of her most famous statements, to be found directly to the left of the Volksbühne, reads:
“Freiheit nur für die Anhänger der Regierung, nur für die Mitglieder einer Partei – mögen Sie noch so zahlreich sein – ist keine Freiheit. Freiheit is immer Freiheit der Andersdenkenden.”
“Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of a party – however numerous they may be – is no freedom at all. Freedom is always the freedom of the one who thinks differently.”
Life & Politics
Luxemburg was born in Zamosc, Poland in 1871. From a young age she worked within the socialist movement, eventually having to flee the country due to her political activities. She lived in Zürich for a few years, where she studied natural sciences, math and economics. After earning a doctorate, she involved herself heavily in workers’ movements, gaining notoriety in the local labor circles. Later, she married Gustav Lübeck as a matter of convenience, in order to gain German citizenship. She then headed to Berlin, where she joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Once in Berlin, Luxemburg became a dominant and increasingly active figure in t…