‘Stolperstein’ is German for ‘stumbling stone’. In Dutch, people often say ‘struikelsteen’. The name sounds odd at first, because you do not actually trip over these stones. Each one is a concrete block of about 10 by 10 by 10 centimetres with a brass plate on top, and the plate lies flush with the pavement. The plural of Stolperstein is Stolpersteine. In French, the term pavé de mémoire is also used.
What the name means
The name refers to what the stone does to the reader, not to the body. The German artist Gunter Demnig, who created the project, says that you stumble with your head and your heart. To read the name, you have to bow down to the pavement. Walking over a stone by accident is not regarded as an offence by the project. Most people simply step around the stones once they notice them.
Where the idea came from
Demnig had the idea in 1992. On 16 December 1992 he set a first stone in front of the historic town hall in Cologne. It recalled 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 in Austria. From 2000 the city of Cologne gave permission, and the project grew from there.
A saying and a large idea
Demnig often quotes a saying from the Talmud: a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten. Each stone carries one name. The project is often called the largest decentralised memorial in the world, because the stones lie in many places rather than in one central site.
The stumbling threshold
Where very many people were victims, the project uses a Stolperschwelle, or stumbling threshold. This is a long brass strip with one text for the whole group. It also lies at ground level, so you have to bend down to read it.
You can find stones near you on the map of Stolpersteine.app.
Read on
Stolperstein or struikelsteen: is there a difference?
Stolperstein is German for stumbling stone. In Dutch people often say struikelsteen, which means the same. Both words name one small memorial stone.
Who is Gunter Demnig, the artist behind the Stolpersteine?
Gunter Demnig is a German artist, born in 1947 in Berlin. He had the idea for the Stolpersteine in 1992 and laid most of the stones himself for many years.
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.
