The funeral procession passing through the streets of Berlin (Photo: Deutsches Historisches Museum)
On 13 June 1919, almost five months after her murder, the body of Rosa Luxemburg was buried in Berlin’s Friedrichsfelde Cemetery, next to Karl Liebknecht and the other victims of the January fighting. The funeral procession acted as a quiet, peaceful protest by the fledgling Communist Party and other left-wingers against the violence and persecution which was at that time still ongoing. In attendance were the leaders of the Communist Party, Rosa’s friends and relatives, including her brother Jozef and nephew Kazimir, then aged five.
Banner at the funeral bearing Rosa’s last written words: ‘I was, I am, I shall be!’
Rosa Luxemburg’s coffin (Photo: International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam)
Graves of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, Friedrichsfelde Cemetery, 1919.
