Tomb of Karl Marx

About

The Tomb of Karl Marx is in the Eastern cemetery of Highgate Cemetery, North London, England. It is the burial site of Karl Marx, his wife Jenny von Westphalen, and other members of Marx's family. Originally buried in a different part of the Eastern cemetery, the bodies were disinterred and reburied at their present location in 1954.

The tomb was designed by Laurence Bradshaw and it was unveiled in 1956, in a ceremony led by Harry Pollitt, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, which funded the memorial. The tomb consists of a large bust of Marx in bronze set on a marble pedestal. The pedestal is inscribed with quotes from Marx's works including, on the front, the final words of The Communist Manifesto, "Workers of all lands unite".

Since its construction, the tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for followers of Marxist theory. It has also been a target for Marx's opponents, suffering vandalism, and two bomb attacks in the 1970s. It is a Grade I listed structure, the highest listing reserved for buildings and structures of "exceptional interest".