Kapital

Kapital is the German term for capital and has several closely related senses. In economics and everyday usage it refers to wealth or resources that can be used to generate more wealth, including financial capital (money, credit) and physical capital (machinery, buildings, infrastructure). The term covers both the stock of assets and the productive means they enable. In German, compound terms such as Humankapital (human capital) and Kapitalrendite (return on capital) illustrate its applied uses; Kapital can also appear in reference to capital cities in some contexts, though Hauptstadt or Hauptstadtland are more common for “capital city.”

The most famous use of the word as a title is Das Kapital, Karl Marx’s magnum opus, a critical analysis of capitalism and political economy. Volume I, published in 1867, examines value theory, commodity exchange, and the labor process, arguing that value arises from socially necessary labor and that capital seeks surplus value. Volumes II (1885) and III (1894), published posthumously by Friedrich Engels, address the circulation of capital, accumulation, and the dynamics and contradictions of capitalist production. The work has profoundly influenced economics, sociology, philosophy, and political movements, and it remains central to debates about capitalism and economic systems.

Beyond the Marx work, Kapital is used as a general term across disciplines to denote capital resources, assets, or capital goods. In translations and discussions, Das Kapital is often rendered as Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. The concept underpins theories of investment, growth, and development, and it continues to shape policy debates on finance, production, and economic structure.