Statue of Lenin made in Czechoslovakia unveiled in Germany

A statue of communist leader Vladimir Lenin, made in Czechoslovakia in 1957, was unveiled o Saturday in the town of Gelsenkirchen in western Germany by a local far left party.

The 2.15 meters high statue made of cast iron was installed by the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) in front of its headquarters. City authorities had attempted prevent the statue from being installed but their appeals were rejected by courts.

According to the Czech daily Lidové noviny, the statue was originally unveiled in December 1957 in the small town of Hořovice in central Bohemia, where it remained until 1990. The MLPD is said to have bought it at auction for 16,000 euros from an Austrian entrepreneur.