Ramsgate



Source: Wikimedia Commons


Ramsgate was a frequent summer destination for the whole Marx family, and for a number of years even the home of one of their married daughters.



Image © Open Plaques

Karl Marx to Friedrich Engels, 15 August 1870, 36, Hardres Street:

The family is having a great time here. [Daughters] Tussy and Jennychen can't keep away from the sea and are laying down a good store of health. I, on the other hand, am lying more or less fallow as a result of rheumatism and sleepless nights.



Karl Marx to Friedrich Engels, 30 August 1870:

Back to London by steamer tomorrow morning. Firstly, staying here is very expensive for 5 people, as the English have flooded all the bathing places as a result of the war.

Secondly, the accommodation, relative to the price, is damned "draughty". The great pains have ceased, but a certain place is almost paralysed, so that I must consult the doctor again.




This site has been conceived in conjunction with the HERA-funded research project The European Spa as a Transnational Public Space and Social Metaphor. Conception: Astrid Köhler, Text © Astrid Köhler and Karen Southworth, Design © Jana Riedel.