Time to visit the Karl Marx House in Trier ... sort of.
Marx was born in a house in the old town in 1818. He only stayed a year before the family moved several blocks. Nobody cared about the place until 1904, when the Social Democratic Party started efforts to buy it. It succeeded in 1928, but the building was confiscated by the Nazis.
In 1947, the building reopened as a museum dedicated to Marx. The place got the once-over in 1983. The museum is divided into three sections - a biography, his work, and his global impact. Karl's reading chair is there, as is a first-edition copy of "Das Kapital."
Why isn't there a photo of the building around? I've got one, but I think this is more interesting. A half-block from the museum, a couple of the crossing lights have been adapted to cartoon drawings of Marx. A green Karl means go, a red Karl means stop. It's probably the funniest crossing light I've ever seen, although there's isn't much competition.
I've read a description that the museum is one of the dullest places imaginable, at least for an English-speaking tourist. That got my attention, so the photos will have to do. It does pack in something like 50,000 visitors a year, and a third are from China. At least we can see more through a short video.
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