European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 24, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 24, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 9 Over Here Marx a Birthplace draws critics fans by Randy Pruitt staff writer Trier West Germany some tit or disc the father of commus 1 bu>7 him. Some just Wear Day. Visitors wander through Lac huge townhouse where Karl Marx som in 1818. They study rare Yel cd copies of the communist party. Pcs ap., Marx s Defin hive work and other Memorabilia. They watch a film. They leave their impressions in All languages in a Brown leather Guestbook at the door. Many Are particularly biting especially those trom East bloc countries. A Are you Lucky you did no to have to live through 40 years of East German socialism a wrote a woman from Erfurt. Another scribbled a a you a have a Marx never thought Russia would be the country where communism would be the main Dogma. A Marion Barzen turned Over in your  a Marx is the theory mess is the practice a penned one visitor. A woman from Poland wrote a the Best memorial to Marx is what you can now see in Eastern  but other impressions Are More glowing. A despite All the difficulty the ideas of Karl Marx Are unforgettable because they Are True a one entry says. A socialism is the Savior of the working class a notes another. Every year 40,000 people from All Over the world go through the former residence now a museum in downtown Trier. Marx the son of a lawyer lived in this picturesque City in the Mosel Region until he finished High school. He never lived Here again but his memory and ideas Are kept alive in the three Story House where he was born. A a it a a popular House a said Hans Pelger director of the museum and the nearby research Institute that was built in 1980. Pelger who has directed the museum since it opened in 1968, said townspeople at first regarded the House with suspicion. Historian Marion Barzen stands beside a bust of Karl Marx and his genealogical Chart at his Birthplace in Trier. A amps Randy Pruitt a there was something like. A the Marx House will be a research object for communists and especially communists in Moscow a a he said with a smile. A strange thinking but it was not hostile to us a indeed the City seems to embrace the Marx House which is owned by West Germany a social democratic party. Signs Point the Way to 10 Briick Enst Rasse where the townhouse is situated marked by a simple Wall plaque. Museum historian Marion Barzen sees Marx As a historical figure like Goethe and Schiller two giants of German literature. A we do historical and critical research a she said. A we try to find out How he used to live Why he wrote what he wrote and we do that by researching the time when he lived the situation whom he met and what kinds of books he  Barzen who worked As a museum guide while studying political science and German at the University of Trier said Marx a ideas Are often misunderstood. A Marx never thought Russia would be the country where communism would be the main Dogma because Russia was an agrarian country. It was not industrialized a she said. A that was the first thing that could hinder marxism. He always thought about England and Germany when he spoke about  plans had been made to open the House As a memorial to Marx much earlier. The spa bought the House in 1928 and restored it three years later. But the nazi party occupied the building in May 1933, staying until 1945. Their newspaper a Nalion Allatt Quot was printed there. A the House was a Good Way for the nazis to demonstrate their Power because Marx was in a double Way their enemy a Barzen said. A the was the founder of communism and he was a  the House was heavily damaged when the nazis left she said. Windows were broken furniture was smashed and books were destroyed. Barzen said the museum is a touristic not a political Endeavor. The museum which costs 3 Marks for adults and 2 Marks for children and students is open daily. Visitors can Purchase books and posters but not miniature plastic busts of the towns most famous son. A you can buy those at a left Wing Bookstore a Barzen said laughing. Despite death Knell in East bloc marxist theory still alive in classroom Karl Marx is dead. Now they want to Bury marxism. With the recent tumult in Eastern Europe politicians newspapers intellectuals and Blue Collar workers Are euphoric ally writing marxism a obituary. They cite the corpses of failed governments in East Germany Romania Roland and Czechoslovakia. A snot dead says Geof it Rey Hunt a University of Wales professor who lectures on Marx at the University of Maryland. Far from it. In the philosophy of a workers of thnh re it Quot Unher 10 blame for the ills at have plagued East bloc societies. Fli Liput simply what Marx preached aant Ever been practice Hunt said. A a Rasm has been used As an ideology sip nah up system that is highly oppressive and exploitative a Hunt said. A i think Marx would say his ideas have been turned around and used against  Marx a German advocated Public rather than private ownership of property. That notion did no to go Over Well in the West. In the East Hunt described the soviet system As a bureaucratic state capitalist system rather than communist. A Marx would have found that an anathema a he added. In capitalism Marx criticized productive wealth that returns not to society As a whole but to those who own the Means of production. A the owners May put this wealth to uses which do not suit human welfare a Hunt said citing the manufacture of missiles or harmful pharmaceutical products a which May be Good for profit but not for  a if Only society As a whole had control Over the welfare it produces that  happen. That would require democracy a Hunt explained. A democracies Are pretty functional to Marx a ideas and that is Why he would find what is happening in the East since the second world War in Many ways the direct opposite of what he understood to be  Hunt said Marx should still be read. A one of the problems nowadays is everyone thinks they know what Marx had to say even though they never read him a he said. A people done to do this kind of injustice to other  Hunt said Marx would be displeased to find himself deified on Wall size posters in the East. A if you read Marx you la find a condemnation of this kind of idol worship. He regards it As a sympton of a primitive form of society a Hunt said. A a he a turn in his  a Randy Pruitt a amps map