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The article examines Karl Marx’s approach to selected political aspects of German idealist philosophy. Particular focus is put on Marx’s stance vis-a-vis Georg Friedrich Hegel. We analyse what Marx had in common with this philosophical school and where he diverged. Marx’s views on idealist philosophy are elaborated, with other sources of his doctrine, particularly English classical economics and “social reformers”, folded in to the analysis. Although Marx’s scientific affiliation is still a matter of controversy, we claim that his careful attention to idealist philosophy shows he acknowledged the need to engage with them, and that the German idealists had a profound impact on Marx and became a cornerstone of his thinking. Competing streams of thought put forward by Kant, Hegel, Schelling, Fichte and especially Feuerbach posed lifelong intellectual challenges that compelled Marx to refashion idealist philosophy into his mode of materialism. Leaving aside political economy, we argue that German idealism is the true basis for Marx’s materialism. Even so, Marx is now regarded as a sociologist more than a philosopher, since the crux of his materialism had been laid down well before he started to “change the world instead of merely interpreting it”.