East German town bans future Holocaust memorial plaques
The council said future remembrance should move to the town cemetery after critics argued the sidewalk plaques are inappropriate.
- On Thursday, the local council in Heidenau, near Dresden, voted to ban Stolpersteine—brass Holocaust memorial plaques—from public roads, a motion supported by the AfD and Christian Democrats .
- More than 130,000 Stolpersteine exist across 33 countries, serving as a decentralized memorial to victims of the Nazi regime, though the project has faced controversy with cities like Munich restricting installations.
- Israeli ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor stated that relegating Jewish remembrance to cemeteries makes victims 'invisible once again,' while German Education Minister Karin Prien called the ban 'a scandal.'
- This cross-party vote in Heidenau demonstrates the weakening 'firewall' between mainstream parties and the anti-immigration AfD, as Germany's policy against cooperating with the far right faces increasing pressure.
- AfD figures have increasingly called for changes to Germany's culture of remembrance, emphasizing German suffering during World War II, which critics argue aligns with efforts to downplay the country's Nazi past.
205 Articles
205 Articles
OPINION. In the municipality of Heidenau, in Saxon Switzerland, the decision to ban the placement of new "Stolpersteine," the stone markers commemorating victims of Nazism, could foreshadow a fundamental shift in Germany's attitude toward its past, in the wake of far-right victories, writes Frédéric Koller. If you ever pass by the town hall in Heidenau, Saxony, you might stumble upon a gilded stone marker engraved with a name: Paul Gröger. Two d…
German town bans 'stumbling stone' memorials to Nazi victims
By Bethany BellSeptember 26, 2026There has been a wave of criticism in Germany after the town of Heidenau, near Dresden in Saxony, decided to ban "stumbling stone" memorials to victims of the Nazis.Germany's Education Minister Karin Prien told newspaper Bild that the ban was a "scandal".Since the 1990s, many towns in countries across Europe, including in Germany and Austria, have embedded small brass plaques in the streets in memory of Jews and …
They want to expel the memory of the victims of Nazism from the city center, just as the victims themselves were expelled, warn opponents of the decision.
In Heidenau, in western Germany, the decision to no longer install “Stolpersteine”, small stones dedicated to the victims of Nazism, caused a lively controversy. It comes after an agreement between the AfD and the CDU, a few weeks after the regional victory of the far-right party.
The local council in the German town of Heidenau has suspended the installation of "Stolpersteine", paving stones installed to commemorate individual victims of the Nazis, notes The Guardian. The town hall of Heidenau,...
After the Stolperstein decision in Heidenau, the indignation grows. "Maischberger" is the case with Young Union leader Johannes Winkel and SPD politician Ralf Stegner. Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch warns of the AfD.
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