Lenin and his retrospective assessment in the GDR
In November 1991, the time had finally come: the monumental Lenin monument on what was then Leninplatz, now United Nations Square in Berlin-Friedrichshain, was demolished. A majority in the district council had previously voted in favour of this. Within a few weeks, the 19-metre-high statue was dismantled and the individual parts buried in a sand pit. Lenin obviously no longer had a place in the culture of remembrance of reunified Germany or Berlin.
The Lenin Monument in East Berlin
This was very different during the GDR era. The monument, designed by Soviet sculptor Nikolai Tomski, was one of the most visible symbols of socialist state ideology in East Berlin. Since 1970, the larger-than-life figure had dominated the centre of the newly created square. It was inaugurated on 19 April, three days before Lenin's 100th birthday, by the then party and state leader Walter Ulbricht. The GDR leadership thus demonstrated its close ideological ties to the founder of the Soviet Union, from which it never deviated until the end.
In fact, Lenin played a central role in the GDR's self-image. He served not only as an ideological reference point, but also as a political role model and an integral part of the official world view. The ruling party, the SED, consistently referred to Marxism-Leninism, which permeated all aspects of social life as a binding doctrine.
Who was Lenin?
Lenin was born in Simbirsk, Russia, in 1870. He became politicised at an early age and turned to revolutionary Marxism. Due to his opposition activities against the tsarist regime, he lived in exile for many years, including in Switzerland, France and Germany. In numerous writings, he developed his ideas of a revolutionary party as a political vanguard and of the necessity of a radical overthrow of the existing order.
With the October Revolution of 1917, Lenin and the Bolsheviks succeeded in seizing power in the crumbling Tsarist Empire. In the years that followed, he played a decisive role in shaping the new state. This included the introduction of a one-party system, the centralisation of political power and the use of force to enforce the new order in the civil war. From 1922 onwards, Lenin increasingly withdrew from active politics and died in January 1924.
Marxism-Leninism as state ideolo
After his death, Lenin's body was embalmed and laid out in a mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow. In the Soviet Union, a comprehensive heroisation of his person began. Especially during the Stalinist period, Marxism-Leninism was established as the binding state ideology. According to Stalin's definition, this was »Marx's doctrine, further developed by Lenin under the new conditions of class struggle in the era of imperialism and proletarian revolutions«. Central elements were the principle of democratic centralism and the claim to shape the state and society on a supposedly scientific basis.
Lenin's lasting influence in the GDR
These ideological foundations were largely adopted in the GDR. The leadership and organisational principles of the new type of party determined the structure of the SED and the political system as a whole. Authoritarian and anti-democratic tendencies, dogmatism and the human rights violations associated with this ideology remained hidden in the official historical narrative. To institutionalise the doctrine, the Institute for Marxism-Leninism was established in East Berlin, which, in addition to Marx-Engels and Lenin research, shaped the history of the GDR as a whole.
Political and ideological training was part of everyday life in the GDR. Marxism-Leninism was taught as a compulsory subject at all universities in the GDR. The courses were also compulsory in schools, businesses, the military and mass organisations. Quite a few people responded to this constant presence with inner distance. Nevertheless, Marxism-Leninism formed a fundamental basis of the state order. It instilled in supporters of state power the conviction that they were part of historical progress and on the morally right side of history.
Lenin's presence in public spaces in the GDR
Lenin was also omnipresent in public spaces. Streets and squares in almost every major city in the GDR bore his name. In East Berlin, there was Leninallee, now Landsberger Allee, not far from the GDR Museum's depot. Street signs, reliefs and busts in the collection bear witness to a cult of Lenin that was common in the GDR as well as in other Eastern Bloc countries. By the 1980s, however, Marxism-Leninism had increasingly transformed from a revolutionary vision into a rigid dogma. Even officials loyal to the state began to doubt their own teachings. With the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, the ideology lost its political foundation. After 1990, most references to Lenin in the former GDR were removed. The demolition of the Lenin monument on the former Leninplatz became a widely visible symbol of political change.
It was not until 2015 that the 3.5-tonne head of the Lenin monument, which also played an important role in the film »Good Bye, Lenin!«, was recovered. Since then, it has been on display in the exhibition »Unveiled. Berlin and its Monuments« at the Spandau Citadel.
Editor's note: The blog post first appeared on 21 January 2016.
