The city of Munich does not allow Stolpersteine on public ground. Instead, it uses plaques and steles on walls and posts. The decision follows from the criticism of the form.
The objection
The best-known critic is Charlotte Knobloch, long-time head of the Jewish community of Munich. She objects that the names of victims lie on the ground, where people walk over them. The stones lie flush with the pavement, so the names are at the level where people walk. Each stone is for one person, and families get stones side by side, so they are together again in front of their home. Stones are laid in a small ceremony, often with relatives, neighbours and schoolchildren.
The answer of supporters
Supporters answer that walking past is not disrespect. They say that bowing to read the name is the point of the stone. Many relatives also ask for stones themselves. The form comes from the German artist Gunter Demnig, who had the idea in 1992. On 16 December 1992 he set a first stone in front of Cologne's historic town hall, recalling the 1942 order to deport Sinti and Roma to Auschwitz.
Where the stones do lie
The first Stolpersteine 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. There are now more than 100,000 Stolpersteine in about 30 European countries. Private people and local groups request and pay for stones, among them relatives, residents, schools and history societies. Local volunteers ask the municipality for permission, because the pavement is public ground.
Since 2019, Stichting 18 September in Eindhoven has kept a database of Stolpersteine in the Netherlands and Belgium, together with local organisations, and now also of stones in other countries. For many years Demnig laid most stones himself. If you know more about a person, you can send it to [email protected].
Find stones in other cities on the map of Stolpersteine.app.
Read on
Stolperstein or memorial plaque: what is the difference?
A Stolperstein is a small stone set in the pavement for one person. An ordinary memorial plaque or monument usually stands in one place.
How do you explain Stolpersteine to children?
Start with the stone itself: a small brass plate in the pavement with a name and the words here lived. Then explain who lived there and what happened.
Stolpersteine in the classroom: a lesson or project
A short school lesson on Stolpersteine: read a stone, find its address on the map, research the person in archives and attend a laying.
