Stolpersteine memorial debates in Germany

In Germany, local municipalities are taking divergent approaches to the use of ‘Stolpersteine’ (stumbling stones), brass memorial plaques used to commemorate victims of National Socialism at their former places of residence.

In Saalfeld, the town is scheduled to install 15 new stones on September 30, 2026, to honor individuals such as Dr. Eugen Gütermann, Oskar Grossmann, Gustav Steinberg, and members of the Sachs family. Katharina König-Preuss, an anti-fascism spokesperson for the Die Linke parliamentary group in Thuringia, welcomed the initiative, noting that the stones ensure victims are remembered as ‘people with names and families rather than abstract statistics’ by marking the specific locations where they lived and worked.

Conversely, the city council of Heidenau has passed a resolution prohibiting the installation of new ‘Stolpersteine’ on public streets and sidewalks. Following a secret vote of 13 to six, the motion—supported by the CDU and AfD—aims to relocate memorials to a centralized site, potentially the Nordfriedhof cemetery, though the mayor noted this would require church approval. AfD parliamentary group leader Daniel Barthel argued the stones are inappropriate because they can be ‘consciously or unconsciously’ stepped on and accumulate dirt.

The decision has drawn sharp condemnation. German Education Minister Karin Prien described the move as ‘scandalous,’ arguing it ‘makes Jewish people invisible again.’ Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor and chair of the Jewish community in Munich, expressed shock at the CDU’s support for the AfD on this issue. Local cultural and educational organizations in Heidenau are currently reviewing legal options.