Gasthuisstraat 12 in Zaltbommel, Brabant, the house where Karl Marx wrote part of Das Kapital is for sale for over €1 million.

Marx travelled from London to Zaltbommel in 1863, when he was out of money and forced him to appeal to his Dutch mother’s brother, who was put in charge of his inheritance.

He then went to stay with his favourite niece Henriëtte, who also lived in the Brabant town, and it is there he continued to work on his critical treatise on modern political economics.

Marx liked Zaltbommel and walked along the river Waal. In a letter to his niece, he reminisced about his time there, saying he “wished I was back in Bommel”.

Current owner Lamber van der Donk, who started an antique shop in the 16th-century house,  had no idea about its history when he bought it some 40 years ago. Henriëtte’s family archives, which contained a diary written by a cousin of Marx, gave him the first inkling of Marx’s presence there.

“To honour his connection to his house, I had a bust made of Marx with Das Kapital next to it and had it added to the facade,” he told local paper Brabants Dagblad.

He also claims to have the desk at which Marx worked, although not much sitting was done because Marx was plagued by piles and restlessness. “He would write something, get up and walk around the table, almost breaking into a run, until he thought of something and sat down again to write,” Van der Donk said.

The history of the house may pique the interest of prospective buyers who are history buffs, Van der Donk hopes. They will have to bring a capital sum: the house is listed for €1.25 million.