Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

BERLIN — Revolutionary thinker Karl Marx is sparking a new revolt in his German birthplace, after its city council agreed to accept a giant statute from China to mark the father of Communism's 200th birthday next year.

It seems the people of Trier aren't too happy about honoring a man who's political philosophy led to a divided Germany for nearly a half century — and taking the gift from a communist regime.

"China is not a free country, quite the opposite," Tobias Schneider, a politician for the Free Democratic Party in Trier, told German media Monday after the city's council voted in favor of accepting the 21-foot bronze statue.

"We could draw up a long list of human rights violations," he said. "Do we want to allow such a rogue regime to set up a statue of Karl Marx in the heart of our city? Refuse this poisoned gift."

Reiner Marz, of the Green party, said that "whoever accepts the present honors the gift giver. China’s Communist party doesn’t deserve any honor."

The monument to Marx, who was born on May 5, 1818, is being designed by Chinese artist Wu Weishan. A wooden cut out of the philosopher, who helped write The Communist Manifesto, was temporarily erected in Trier so residents could get a better understanding of what it might look like. Negotiations over its precise size and where it will be installed are ongoing.

"This has nothing to do with glorification. Those times are over," Trier Mayor Wolfram Leibe said, defending the idea.

Marx lived in Trier until he was 17. He later lived in Berlin, London and Paris. He has a complicated legacy in Germany because some people still associate him with an ideology that led to the Cold War and the Berlin Wall.

China's government made the gift as a way both to mark the bicentennial and honor its good diplomatic relationship with Germany.

"That the biggest country in the world is thinking about the little city of Trier is great," said Andreas Ludwig, a city councilman. "It is a big honor if people look at Trier."