Gunter Demnig is a German artist. He was born in Berlin in 1947, and he had the idea for the Stolpersteine in 1992. “Stolperstein” is German for “stumbling stone”. The project is often called the largest decentralised memorial in the world. More about it is on stolpersteine.eu, Demnig’s own site.
The first stone
On 16 December 1992 Demnig set a first stone in front of Cologne’s historic town hall. The stone recalls the 1942 order to deport Sinti and Roma to Auschwitz. The first stones for individual people were laid in Cologne in 1995 and in Berlin-Kreuzberg in 1996, at first without official permission. In 1997 the first officially approved stones were laid in St. Georgen near Salzburg, Austria. From 2000 the city of Cologne gave permission, and the project grew from there.
Why in the pavement?
A Stolperstein lies flush with the pavement, so you do not trip over it physically. Demnig’s point is that you stumble with your head and your heart, and that to read the name you have to bow. He often quotes a saying from the Talmud: a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten.
How the stones come about
Stones are requested and paid for by private people and local groups, such as relatives, residents, schools 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. Since 2005 the stones have been made by hand by the sculptor Michael Friedrichs-Friedlaender in Berlin. A laying is a small ceremony where names are read and often flowers are laid, usually with relatives, neighbours and schoolchildren. For many years Demnig laid most stones himself.
Criticism
Not everyone agrees with the form. Charlotte Knobloch, long-time head of the Jewish community of Munich, objects that the names lie on the ground where people walk over them. For that reason Munich does not allow Stolpersteine on public ground, and uses plaques and steles on walls and posts instead. Supporters answer that walking past is not disrespect, that bowing to read is the point, and that many relatives ask for stones themselves.
On the map you can find the stones near you.
Read on
How is a Stolperstein made, and by whom?
A Stolperstein is a concrete block with a brass plate, and the text is stamped into the brass by hand, letter by letter.
Where is a Stolperstein placed, and why in front of that house?
A Stolperstein lies in front of the last home the person chose freely, before they were forced to move, go into hiding or were arrested.
Who gets a Stolperstein, and which victims are commemorated?
Stolpersteine honour people persecuted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945, including Jews, Sinti and Roma, and people persecuted for political reasons.
