|
A debate about the statue of Marx with head held high and
holding a book in one hand, has divided residents in Trier near
the Luxembourg border. Supporters call it a welcome
acknowledgement of the city as the philosopher's birthplace.
"This is clearly about us supporting the Chinese state ideology
which is responsible for human rights abuses and we cannot allow
that in our free society," local Free Democrat Tobias Schneider
told Deutschlandfunk radio.
The city council voted in favor late on Monday with 42 members
in favor and seven against.
"The decision, however, does not stipulate the size of the
sculpture or where it will be placed," said the city council in
a statement.
Chinese artist Wu Weishan has suggested the statue should be 4.9
meters tall atop a 1.4 meter high pedestal at the Porta Nigra,
the city's most famous landmark and one of the biggest and
best-preserved Roman gates north of the Alps.
A model of the statue was put on display there for two days at
the start of March. The council said it would talk to the artist
and the Chinese consulate in Frankfurt to decide who will pay
the roughly 70,000 euros needed for the pedestal.
"That the biggest country in the world (in terms of population)
is thinking about the little city of Trier is great. It is a big
honor if people look at Trier," Andreas Ludwig, city councilor
responsible for construction projects, told broadcaster SWR.
Marx has a mixed legacy among Germans, with some seeing the Cold
War division of the country and erection of the Berlin Wall as a
result of his ideas.
(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; editing by Ralph Boulton)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
