Several Stolpersteine lie side by side in front of some houses. Each stone is for one person, and each lies in front of the last home that person freely chose. If several people who lived at the same address were persecuted, several stones lie there.
Stolperstein is German for “stumbling stone”, and in Dutch people often say “struikelsteen”. The stone is a small concrete block, about 10 by 10 by 10 centimetres, with a brass plate on top. It lies flush with the pavement, so you do not trip over it physically. To read the name, you have to bow.
One stone for each person
Each stone carries one name, a year of birth, and what happened to that person, such as the date and place of arrest or deportation. The text usually begins with “HIER WOHNTE” in German, “HIER WOONDE” in Dutch or “ICI HABITAIT” in French, which all mean “here lived”. Variants exist, such as “here worked” or “here studied”.
The last home they chose
A stone lies in front of the last home the person chose freely, before they were forced to move, go into hiding or were arrested. Sometimes it is a workplace or a school instead. If several people at the same address had that home as their last freely chosen place, several stones lie there.
Families side by side
Families receive stones next to each other, so they are together again in front of their home. Stones are also laid for people who survived, for example by fleeing or going into hiding, so that the family is shown complete.
Who asks for a stone
Stones are requested and paid for by private people and local groups, such as relatives, residents, schools, local foundations and history societies. Local volunteers research the person’s life in archives, look for relatives and ask the municipality for permission, because the pavement is public ground. The stone is laid in a short ceremony, often with relatives, neighbours and schoolchildren. Names are read out, and flowers are often laid.
In places where very many people were victims, there is sometimes no single stone but a Stolperschwelle: a long brass strip with one text for the whole group. That is a different form, meant for a group rather than for one person.
To see who is commemorated at an address, search by name, street or city on the Stolpersteine map.
Read on
How do I make a walking route past Stolpersteine?
Open an address on the Stolpersteine.app map and choose a walking route past the stones nearby, as a round trip or one way, for the time you want to walk.
How do you behave at a Stolperstein?
You may stop, read and bow at a Stolperstein. Photographing a stone is normal, flowers are laid as at ceremonies, and anyone may clean a stone.
Is it disrespectful to step on a Stolperstein?
Stepping on a Stolperstein by accident is not regarded as an offence by the project. Supporters say that walking past is not disrespect.
