Who were Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s 1926 memorial?

In his 1926 memorial, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe commemorated Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, who were prominent German revolutionary figures and leaders of the Spartacus League.21

Liebknecht and Luxemburg were key figures in the radical movement dedicated to a socialist revolution in Germany. They co-led the Spartacus League, an underground group that eventually became the Communist Party of Germany. During the German Revolution of 1918–19, they were central to the radical attempt at revolution known as the Spartacist uprising in Berlin.23

Following the suppression of this revolt by government-aligned Freikorps units, both were captured and murdered on January 15, 1919. Mies van der Rohe’s Expressionist memorial served as a tribute to these fallen leaders, though it was later demolished by the Nazis.231