A Lenin Statue in West Germany? Yes, it exists! A Lenin statue in West Germany sounds impossible. But it is true. Today, a statue of Lenin stands in the city of Gelsenkirchen. The cast-iron statue is over two meters tall and 1100 kilograms heavy. It is a Czech native, created by the now deceased sculptor Vladimír Kýn.

this is the first Lenin monument in former West Germany. This makes the statue very special. Many people come to see it. Some like it. Some do not. But everybody talks about it. The statue stands in front of the office of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany, or MLPD. In 2020, the party bought an old Lenin statue and placed it in front of their headquarters. Gelsenkirchen is in the Ruhr valley. This was the heart of German industry for many years. Now, it is also the home of a Lenin monument.

Four copies

The statue was originally unveiled in December 1957 in the small town of Hořovice in Czechoslovakia, at the Hořovické Strojírny steel factory. Sculptor Vladimir Kýn made the monument. There were four copies made of the original mold. A second statue stood in front of the Škoda factory in Pilsen since 1958. In 1972, a copy brought joy to Soviet soldiers stationed in Zákupy in North Bohemia. The fourth work was originally placed in front of the headquarters of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1973. In 1985 it was moved to the ONV building. After 1989 it was stolen and is now installed in the courtyard of Muzeu Českého krasu in Berouně.

Vladimir Kýn

Vladimir Kýn was born on January 31, 1923, in Holešov, Czechoslovakia and died on October 11, 2004, in Prague. He studied at the Baťa School of Art in Zlín and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. His style shows organic shapes combined with technical structures, influenced by artists like Henry Moore, Vincenc Makovský and Josef Wagner. Among his works are a bust of Jiří Wolker (1960) and sculptures for children’s playgrounds in Železný Brod (1965).

He and his wife Jaroslava Lukešová also protested the 1968 Soviet invasion by leaving the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Late in life Kýn fell ill, lost his studio in the mid-1990s and destroyed some of his own sculptures before his death.

First Lenin in Czechoslovakia

The Hořovické Strojírny statue was the first Lenin in Czechoslovakia. It had a strong symbolic value for the communist government. It was cast by retired workers of the plant. Kýn was later ashamed of his Lenin due to the damage to the plaster mold, Lenin supposedly had a “dislocated shoulder.” He considered it “an exceptionally bad student work”.

Fall of communism

But after the fall of communism in the early 1990s, the statues were removed. The statue from Pilsen moved to the Techmania science center. The other statues disappeared. Hidden for many years, one statue appeared again around 2014 in online ads from Slovakia. A seller named Milan offered a steel Lenin and a bronze Stalin, but later disappeared and could not be contacted. The statues then moved to Weidhofen an der Thaya in Austria, where collector Christian Berger bought them and later sold Lenin on eBay. This is how the Lenin statue was discovered and purchased by the MLPD in Gelsenkirchen. Stalin took another journey and now lives in New Orleans.

150th birthday of Lenin

The MLPD bought it for 16,000 euros from the Austrian entrepreneur. They wanted to show the statue for the 150th birthday of Lenin. In June 2020, they installed the monument in Gelsenkirchen. City authorities had attempted to prevent the statue from being installed, but their appeals were rejected by courts.

Karl Marx

The Lenin statue was not alone for long. In 2022, the MLPD placed a 2.1-meter statue of Karl Marx next to it. The party says the Marx statue cost about $50,000. Supporters donated the money.

The MLPD began in 1982. German intelligence watches the party, because the state sees it as extremist. Still, the Lenin and Marx statues stay. They are part of the public street. People stop, look, and talk. Some people feel angry. Some feel proud. The statues create discussion, history, and a unique place in Germany.