2018-05-10 Thu

Visual artist Thomas Mayfried designed a new postage stamp for the German postal service to commemorate the 200th birthday of Karl Marx.

The German Federal Ministry of Finance conducted a special competition to select the stamp design. An abstract black and white portrait of Karl Marx is featured on the stamp. It is taken from the popular 1875 photograph of Marx by English photographer John Mayall. The stamp design was created by printing it in a series of black and white lines. The artist tries to maintain the heroic context with a modern interpretation. Other inscriptions include Marx’s name along with his birth and death years. It is the first black and white stamp featuring Karl Marx issued by the German Postal Service. An earlier release depicts Karl Marx with a red background – a colour that denotes Marxism.

Born on 5th May 1828, Marx's ideologies and solutions went on to inspire several social democratic, socialist and communist movements in the world. Communist regimes ended after 1980 and 1990. However, the financial crisis of 2008, led to the renewal of Marxism. His observations on capitalism hold true even today.

Image Courtesy: Deutschen Post.