These small brass plaques, lodged in the pavement, are a reminder of the countless individual lives that make up the clinical statistics that confound our ability to assimilate the horror of the millions who died under Nazi ‘re-settlement’. The idea is simple – each ‘stone’ includes the name, year of birth, date of deportation, eventual destination and fate of individual residents who once lived in the building – ‘Hier Wohnte’. The project is the work of a Köln based artist, Gunter Demnig.
Stolpersteine in Aachen
Aachen the German border town that straddles Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium is probably best known for its Cathedral – the oldest in Northern Europe and the burial site of Charlemagne. The ‘Imperial Cathedral’ is a magnificent structure, composed of several distinct buildings constructed at various stages in its long history. But my interest in a brief visit to Aachen during a wet and cloudy January was to explore another history that lies in it’s pavements. This history is marked by small brass plaques that stand as memorials to those who were evicted, deported and murdered by the Nazis.
New Stolpersteine and London images
Le flaneur spent Christmas 2010 in Dusseldorf enjoying the snow but also exploring the pavements to discover new stolpersteine locations in the city. This most recent journey brings the total number of individual addresses to 43. These new additions build on existing concentrations and introduce new locations to the catalogue. This most recent set of additions has also encouraged a revision of the existing structure of the series, reflecting the organic way the project has grown and evolved over the past two years.
Stolpersteine update
The Düsseldorf Stolpersteine series has grown to encompass Stolpersteine from 24 locations across the city. Our journey takes us from the ancient town centre – the Altstadt, across the Rhine to the upmarket Oberkassel and then southeast to the old working class district of Eller.
Stolpersteine series added
The Düsseldorf Stolpersteine series has now been added to the site, a walk which follows the locations of Stolpersteine in a variety of districts in the city. I first discovered Stolpersteine (stumble stones) in Berlin in the summer of 2006. Further research revealed that the Stolpersteine project is the work of a single German artist – Gunter Demnig and that today more than 13,000 Stopersteine are embedded in streets all over Germany and a growing number of European cities.