The Globe Map
🏛️

Landmark

Marx-Engels-Forum

4.3 (992)Free

Marx-Engels-Forum was laid out by the East German government in the 1980s as a monument to Communist ideology, its centerpiece a bronze sculpture of Karl Marx seated and Friedrich Engels standing beside him, gazing out over what was once a showcase socialist streetscape. Today the park doubles as public green space near Alexanderplatz, hosting a Christmas market with rides and ice skating in winter, a striking contrast reviewers note between the statues' ideological gravity and the surrounding leisure activity. It's free, quick, and works well as a stop between Alexanderplatz and Museum Island. The statues themselves remain a popular photo spot, partly for their historical curiosity and partly for the incongruity of their setting today.

✨ Reasons to go

  • 1The bronze sculpture, installed by the East German government in the 1980s, depicts Marx seated with Engels standing beside him.
  • 2A relief map behind the statues still shows a divided Germany, an original GDR-era design element.
  • 3The site's ideological monument now sits alongside a winter Christmas market with rides and ice skating.

💡 Good to know

  • 1Visit in December to see it doubling as a Christmas market with rides and ice skating
  • 2it's a short walk from both Alexanderplatz and Museum Island, so fold it into that route
  • 3look for the relief map behind the statues showing a divided Germany, a relic of its original GDR-era design.

⏱️ Typical visit

20 min

🕰️ Best time

morning, afternoon or early evening

🚶 Walking intensity

Easy pace

📍

Address

Karl-Liebknecht-Str., 10178 Berlin, Germany · MitteGoogleApple
🎫

Booking

Walk-in

What people say

"Went to the Christmas Market on Saturday. They had a lot of rides like carousel, swing ride and also ice skating too. It was nice to just relax, have a chat drinking your Glühwein while looking at people skating round and round."

Edward Pakpahan