2024 (continuously updated)
Unfortunately, Gunter Demnig’s timetable for the next months is already full - we cannot organise any more Stolperstein-laying ceremonies, on top of those that are already planned, before 2025.
Our waiting list is getting longer and longer and we appreciate your patience and understanding.
The Stolpersteine began in 1996 as a symbolic art project. It has since grown and some 95,000 Stolpersteine have now been placed across Europe.
However, Demnig has always been aware that it will never be possible to lay Stolpersteine for the millions of victims of the Nazis - thus his project remains symbolic.
Each Stolperstein is made and laid by hand. Michael Friedrichs-Friedländer and six other sculptors make and emboss some 600 Stolpersteine a month - Gunter Demnig travels across Germany and Europe and lays them.
In certain cases and only when Gunter has already placed the first Stolpersteine in a village, town or city, it is possible to “order” Stolpersteine and have them placed by the local authorities. Such placements are called Community Installations (CIs).
The manufacture of the Stolpersteine remains in the hands of the Gunter Demnig’s team, which has made a conscious decision to not expand production - in direct opposition to the mass murder that the Nazis engaged in between 1933 and 1945.
Although the project will remain symbolic it is also long-term - Stolpersteine will continue to be made and laid over the next years and decades.
We thank you for your patience, support and involvement and look forward to hearing from you.
- Susanne Weeber
termine@stolpersteine.eu
(for STOLPERSTEINE in Germany) - Alexander Stukenberg
benelux@stolpersteine.eu
(for STOLPERSTEINE in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) - Nikola Brunner
aut-ch@stolpersteine.eu
(for STOLPERSTEINE in Austria and Switzerland) - Anne Thomas
international@stolpersteine.eu
(for STOLPERSTEINE outside of Germany)
December 2023
Dear STOLPERSTEIN partners, supporters, friends and family,
As we come to the end of the 2023, we look back on several stressful, moving, sad but also enriching, loving, and touching moments in a year that has marked us like hardly any before.
We began 2023 in deep grief. The loss of our longstanding colleague and friend Karin Richert, who departed this world too soon, was a burden on our daily work. But in February, we were able to breathe again after finding a new team member to replace Karin. Andreas Ullmann has stepped up to the task and has been carrying out her work with as much dedication as she.
On 26 May, we were very pleased about a particular event despite the sad context: The installation of the 100,000th STOLPERSTEIN in Nuremberg. Gunter Demnig placed it to commemorate the fireman Johann Wild. Born in 1892, he was arrested and accused of committing a "radio crime" in 1941. A court sentenced him to death, and he was guillotined in Munich-Stadelheim.
In June 2023, another longstanding member of the team, our committed project manager Anna Warda left our foundation with a heavy heart to move onto another position within the wider field of memory culture in Germany. She too had to be replaced of course, and on September 1st we welcomed a new member into our fold: Susanne Weeber has been working ever since to bridge the gap between the needs of those wanting to install Stolpersteine in Germany and the constraints of Gunter Demnig's timetable.
Since the number of requests for Stolpersteine continues to grow, the team took on two more freelance sculptors in September, who will help continue making Stolpersteine by hand in time for all planned installations.
The month of October was marked by two events. On the 1st, Gunter Demnig received the Order of Merit of the German State of Berlin, which is awarded to honor recipients' work for the benefit of Berlin, from the city's mayor Kai Wegner. On the 27th, Gunter Demnig celebrated his 76th birthday a long way from home. These two events helped to accelerate his decision to spend less time on the road in the coming years.
We hope that our partners and supporters will understand that Gunter Demnig will not be able to come as frequently to places or spend as much time as usual at installations in future. Therefore, it will be necessary to plan more community installations without his presence.
We would like to thank all our partners and supporters for their longstanding cooperation and support of Gunter Demnig's decentralized artistic monument, and we hope for this to continue thus in future.
The whole Stolperstein team wishes you happy holidays and all the best for 2024.
Katja and Gunter
Please note:
Unfortunately, Gunter Demnig’s timetable for the next months is already full - we cannot organise any more Stolperstein-laying ceremonies by Gunter Demnig on top of those that we have already planned before 2024.
Gunter Demnig turns 75 – and celebrates 40 years of collecting and making trails
October 27, 2022
Gunter Demnig was born in Berlin in 1947, where he first studied art education after graduating from high school and then industrial design at the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste. As a student, he was already inclined to staging provocative actions in the public space. In 1968, in protest against the Vietnam War, he painted a US flag on the window of his studio in Kreuzberg, replacing the stars with skulls. This artistic stunt earned him a brief stint in jail.
In 1970, he moved from Berlin to Kassel where he graduated in art education, and started studying with the artist, sculptor, and choreographer Harry Kramer. The "Atelier Kramer" was a collective of artists and students that organized numerous art actions and exhibitions together and represented the idea of participatory art that was critical of society.
In 1980, Demnig became a research assistant at the University of Kassel and examined the question of when an artist can call themselves an artist. To draw attention to this problem, he walked from the university in Kassel to the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He covered the entire distance by foot, printing the text "DUFTMARKEN CASSEL - PARIS DEMNIG 80" on the streets with the help of a homemade printing device. He was briefly detained by the French gendarmerie on the way and it took him 21 days to arrive in Paris, where he donated the printing device to the Centre Pompidou. It is still in its collection today.
Over the following years, Demnig carried out numerous other actions, in which he left traces and made trails, combining art, performance, and provocation in the public space. In 1981, he left a "Blutspur" ("Blood Trail") from the Kunstakademie in Kassel to the Tate Gallery in London using animal blood. The year after, he spanned an "Ariadne-Faden" ("Ariadne thread") over 1,000 km from Kassel to Venice, and in 1984 he buried "Landschaftskonserven" ("canned landscapes") along the path of his trek across the Alps.
After 1985, Demnig participated in various projects, such as the MOLTKEREI-Werkstatt and the art space FUHRWERKSWAAGE in Cologne. Later, he constructed sound installations and conceived provocative fairground automatons. Many of these works are now exhibited in his the artist’s own gallery in Alsfeld-Elbenrod. It was in Cologne that Gunter Demnig met members of Rom e.V., a Cologne-based Roma organization, and in 1990 he use a homemade contraption to paint a trail to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the deportation of 1,000 Roma and Sinti people from the city. He printed the words "Mai 1940 - 1000 Roma und Sinti" (May 1940 - 1000 Roma and Sinti) in over 20 places on the streets of the western German city. His action was also a criticism of contemporary European asylum policy.
Encouraged by his good friend Kurt Holl from Rom e.V., Demnig was inspired to take this trail of commemoration further. He wanted to make his project more personal and literally more concrete – the idea of the STOLPERSTEINE began to take shape. The first stone marked 50 years since the "Auschwitz decree" when Heinrich Himmler ordered the deportation of all "all gypsy mixed-bloods, Roma Gypsies and non-German-blooded members of gypsy clans with Balkan origins" to the Auschwitz extermination camp in 1942. The first STOLPERSTEIN for individuals were placed in Cologne and Berlin in 1996. Demnig has travelled around Europe ever since and today there are some 96,000 Stolpersteine, most of which the 75-year-old artist has installed himself.
Happy Birthday, Gunter!
Download as PDF: Gunter Demnig turns 75
April 2021
STOLPERSTEIN team has a new member
In the past decades, the STOLPERSTEINE have become the largest decentralised memorial in the world. We are very pleased about this development, as well as about all the people who want to keep alive the memory of those persecuted and murdered by the Nazis.
The growth of the art project has brought various changes. Despite the constant increase in requests, we will continue to make each Stolperstein by hand and Gunter Demnig will continue to install as many as he can personally. In direct conscious opposition to the mass murder committed by the Nazis, the Stolpersteine will never be mass produced.
So far, Gunter Demnig’s Stiftung – Spuren – Gunter Demnig foundation team consists of seven people, working with the creator and artist to meet as many of the requests for Stolpersteine as possible. This year, we are expanding by one person: Alexander Stukenberg will join us in May.
Some of you will already know him as the head of the Stichting Stolpersteine in Amsterdam. He comes to us from a background in humanitarian aid and speaks English, German and Dutch. Thanks to our close cooperation in recent years, we have decided to entrust him with the production of all Stolpersteine for the Netherlands from 2021 onwards. He will also eventually organise Gunter Demnig’s annual tours in the country.
Over the next few months, he will continue to work closely with Anne Thomas and Anna Warda. For now, please send all requests for installations in the Netherlands to Anna Warda and inscriptions to Anne Thomas.
Of course, the project will retain its decentralised character. We will continue to make sure that all applications for Stolpersteine are reviewed and processed fairly. No municipality or region should be given preferential treatment. For more information about this, please read our Steps and FAQs.
We look forward to working with our new team member Alexander Stukenberg and hope to be able to process requests for Stolpersteine in the Netherlands much faster in future.
As of May 2021:
| Appointments in the Netherlands: | Anna Warda (termine@stolpersteine.eu) |
| Inscriptions: | Anne Thomas (international@stolpersteine.eu) |
| Production and tours in the Netherlands: | Alexander Stukenberg (nl@stolpersteine.eu) |
Stolpersteine and the novel coronavirus (Covid-19)
Update: 19th March 2021
As a result of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and new measures introduced by the authorities in Germany, we regret to announce that we once again have to cancel Gunter Demnig's Stolperstein installations. He will not be present at any of the installations planned between January 1st and June 6th. Some installations will still take place without Gunter Demnig (see below).
We don’t want either Gunter Demnig or anybody else to risk contracting the virus. We hope that you understand. We will continue to follow advice from the World Health Organisation and local health authorities and inform you of any changes.
What to do in case of a cancellation:
If you are the organiser of an installation that has been cancelled, we will send you the Stolpersteine that you have “ordered” and you will be able to decide yourselves whether to place them without Gunter Demnig on the original planned date or at a later point in time.
Since many people will not be able to attend the planned installations, it might make sense to postpone the appointment.
Unfortunately, Gunter Demnig will NOT be able to come to place Stolpersteine himself at a later date, as his timetable is full until end-2021. Therefore, please – exceptionally – arrange to have them placed without him – either by the local authorities or a local building company.
If you have not already done so, or if they have changed, please send information about delivery addresses to Karin Richert (inschriften@stolpersteine.eu) for Germany or to Anne Thomas (international@stolpersteine.eu) for all places outside of Germany.
Please ensure that the address you provide is available at all times. We do not decide when UPS delivers the Stolpersteine and cannot influence this. Please, therefore, give a home address rather than that of an institution if you are worried that this might not be open because of the circumstances.
Our sculptor Michael Friedrichs-Friedlaender will call you when he has sent the Stolpersteine and will give you the UPS tracking details.
We need:
- NAME OF PLACE
- CONTACT NAME
- EMAIL ADDRESS
- PHONE NUMBER
- DELIVERY ADDRESS
Invoices, as usual, will be sent AFTER the Stolpersteine have been dispatched.
We would appreciate it if you could cancel any hotel reservations that you kindly made. Thank you!
Also, please send pictures of any installations that do go ahead to Katja Demnig (info@stolpersteine.eu) for our records.
We thank you for your patience and understanding. We hope that this situation will soon be a bad memory and Gunter Demnig will be back on the road. We are with you all in spirit.
Stolpersteine: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) & cancellations
Update: 30th April 2020
It took us a while to figure out how to react to this unprecedented global health situation. Initially, Gunter Demnig decided that he would continue to place Stolpersteine until the end of March in Germany and cancelled his tours of the Netherlands, Spain and France.
Now, ALL of Gunter Demnig’s installations have been cancelled at least until 15th June 2020. We don’t want either Gunter Demnig who is high-risk on account of his age or anybody else to risk contracting the virus while he travels and meets different people in various towns. Also, at the moment he would not be able to stay in hotels as he usually does. We hope that you will understand.
We will continue to follow advice from the World Health Organisation and local health authorities and will inform you of any changes.
What to do in case of a cancellation
If you are the organiser of an installation that has been cancelled, we will send you the Stolpersteine that you have “ordered” and you will be able to decide yourselves whether to place them without Gunter Demnig on the original planned date or at a later point in time.
If you are an organiser, you can also decide whether to send the Stolpersteine to relatives, many of whom can also not travel because of the current restrictions.
Since many people will not be able to attend the planned installations, it might make sense to postpone the appointment.
Unfortunately, Gunter Demnig will NOT be able to come to place Stolpersteine himself at a later date, as his timetable is full until mid-2021. Therefore, please – exceptionally – arrange to have them placed without him – either by the local authorities or a local building company.
Usually Gunter Demnig is the first person to place Stolpersteine in a new place. This year, there will be exceptions to this rule because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. However, these will remain exceptions and as soon as the situation has subsided and Gunter Demnig can travel again he will once again be the first to install Stolpersteine in new places.
If you have not already done so, or if they have changed, please send information about delivery addresses to Karin Richert (inschriften@stolpersteine.eu) for Germany or to Anne Thomas (international@stolpersteine.eu) for all places outside of Germany.
Please ensure that the address you provide is available at all times. We do not decide when UPS delivers the Stolpersteine and cannot influence this. Please, therefore, give a home address rather than that of an institution if you are worried that this might not be open because of the circumstances. Our sculptor Michael Friedrichs-Friedlaender will call you when he has sent the Stolpersteine and will give you the UPS tracking details.
We need:
- NAME OF PLACE
- CONTACT NAME
- EMAIL ADDRESS
- PHONE NUMBER
- DELIVERY ADDRESS
Invoices, as usual, will be sent AFTER the Stolpersteine have been dispatched.
We would appreciate it if you could cancel any hotel reservations that you kindly made. Thank you!
Also, please send pictures of any installations that do go ahead to Katja Demnig (info@stolpersteine.eu) for our records.
We thank you for your patience and understanding. We hope that this situation will soon be a bad memory and Gunter Demnig will be back on the road. We are with you all in spirit.
With best wishes from Gunter Demnig and his team
10% surcharge on Stolpersteine outside of Germany from January 2020
Dear all,
From January 2020, we will be introducing a surcharge on all Stolpersteine placed outside of Germany. The price will thus increase from 120 to 132 euros. It was not an easy decision as we have tried to maintain the price over the years, but rising material and petrol costs have forced us to reconsider.
As you know, the price of a Stolperstein not only comprises material and production costs but also covers travel, accommodation, research, educational work and the development of a comprehensive database on top of overheads. The idea is for the project to be long-term and sustainable over generations.
When the Foundation board members last met in summer 2019, it was clear that the project’s future could be jeopardized if certain measures were not taken.
We thank you for your understanding.
Stolpersteine at Yad Vashem
Two Stolpersteine, which commemorate the German artists Charlotte Salomon and Felix Nussbaum, have joined the collection at Yad Vashem’s Museum of Holocaust Art.
Charlotte Salomon, who was born in Berlin in 1917, is primarily remembered for the autobiographical series of paintings Leben? oder Theater?: Ein Singspiel, which she created between 1941 and 1943 in the south of France where she had taken refuge from the Nazis. She and her husband were arrested in October 1943 and deported to Auschwitz. Salomon and her unborn child were murdered soon after arrival. Her husband died three months later.
The surrealist painter Felix Nussbaum was born in Osnabrueck in 1904. He moved to Belgium with his companion and later wife Felka Platek in 1935. In May 1940, Nussbaum was arrested as an enemy alien by the Belgian police. He was sent to the camps of Saint Cyprien and Gurs in southern France. After asking to be transferred back to Germany, he was able to escape from the train and find his way back to Belgium where he was reunited with Felka. They lived in hiding until 1944 when they were caught and sent to Auschwitz. The exact circumstances of their death are not clear.
The Museum of Holocaust Art is situated in Yad Vashem’s Square of Hope. The rotating exhibition displays some 120 works, most of which were created either during the Holocaust itself or before by artists who were then murdered. Four artists are particularly highlighted: Bruno Schulz, Carol Deutsch, Charlotte Salomon and Felix Nussbaum.
There are already Stolpersteine in the ground for Charlotte Salomon and Felix Nussbaum in Berlin and Osnabrueck.
Sources:
https://www.yadvashem.org/museum/museum-complex/art/articles/exhibition-in-berlin.html
https://www.yadvashem.org/museum/museum-complex/art/about.html
Foto: Michael Friedrichs-Friedlaender
REMEMBRANCE STONES in Mallorca
Gunter Demnig will place the first REMEMBRANCE STONES in Spain, as well as several STOLPERSTEINE in Mallorca and Menorca in December 2018.
More Information: RemembranceStones_Statement_Mallorca_2018.pdf
October 2017
First Stolperschwelle outside of Europe
On 30th October, 2017 we installed the first STOLPERSCHWELLE outside of Europe. It was placed in front of the Pestallozzi school in Buenos Aires to commemorate children who were forced to flee Europe between 1933 and 1945. It was the idea of a former student of the school, who had STOLPERSTEINE placed for her relatives in Konstanz years ago.
We were delighted when the school and the German embassy turned to us earlier this year to see whether such an installation would be possible. Anna Warda flew to Argentina to represent Gunter Demnig. The installation was very well attended, including by many of those forced to flee. They spoke of their experiences and those of their families.
Anna Warda held a lecture about the STOLPERSTEINE and commemorative art. During her stay in Buenos Aires, she also met some of the members of “barrios x memoria y justicia”, an association which makes ceramic tiles that pay tribute to the victims of the military dictatorship in Argentina.
Thus, another bridge of “non-forgetting” was created between Germany and Latin America.
The inscription of the STOLPERSCHWELLE reads:
"THE SCHOOL GAVE ME A FEELING OF SAFETY AND ALLEVIATED THE TRAUMA OF EMIGRATION"
MARGOT ABERLE STRAUSS
IN HONOUR OF THE TEACHERS AND THE CHILDREN OF THE IMMIGRANT FAMILIES FORCED TO LEAVE GERMANY, WHO AFTER 1934 FOUND FOUND FREEDOM, SHELTER AND A PATH BACK TO LIFE AT THE PESTALOZZI SCHOOL FROM
March 2017
Anne Thomas held a presentation about STOLPERSTEINE at the University of Kentucky's Historic Preservation Symposium. Click here to watch the video on youtube.
November 2015
Appeal from the Art and Museum Library of the City of Cologne (KMB)
The Art and Museum Library of the City of Cologne (KMB) has been trying to create a comprehensive documentation archive focussed on Gunter Demnig and his STOLPERSTEINE project, which includes publications, articles, flyers, brochures, posters, photos, DVDs etc. The idea is that the archive should be accessible to the public without restrictions, so long as there is no breach of data protection laws. The KMB thus hopes to create a central public space to promote further research about the STOLPERSTEINE project and would appreciate any appropriate material being sent to the following address:
Direktion
Dr. Elke Purpus
Kattenbug 18-24
50667 Köln
Email: elke.purpus@stadt-koeln.de
Telefon: 0221/221-22438"
Please circulate this appeal as you feel necessary
February 2015
Frechen, February 2015
Dear Friends of the STOLPERSTEINE
Since January 2015, the STOLPERSTEINE/STOLPERSCHWELLE project has been under the auspices of the foundation STIFTUNG – SPUREN – Gunter Demnig.
The goals remain as before, as do the costs (1 STOLPERSTEIN costs 120 euros).
I look forward to continuing to work with you.
Best wishes,
Unfortunately, Gunter Demnig’s timetable this year is already full - we cannot organise any more Stolperstein-laying ceremonies in 2014.
Moreover, 2015 is filling up rapidly.
Our waiting list is getting longer and longer and we appreciate your patience and understanding.
The Stolpersteine began in 1996 as a symbolic art project. It has since grown and some 45,000 Stolpersteine have now been placed across Europe.
However, Demnig has always been aware that it will never be possible to lay Stolpersteine for the millions of victims of the Nazis - thus his project remains symbolic.
Each Stolperstein is made and laid by hand. Michael Friedrichs-Friedländer makes and embosses some 450 Stolpersteine a month - Gunter Demnig travels across Germany and Europe and lays them.
In exceptional cases, but only when Gunter has already placed the first Stolpersteine in a village, town or city, it is possible to “order” Stolpersteine and have them placed by the local authorities. However, the manufacture of the Stolpersteine remains in the hands of the Stolperstein team.
The Stolperstein team has made a conscious decision to not expand production - in direct opposition to the mass murder that the Nazis engaged in between 1933 and 1945.
However, although the project will remain symbolic it is also long-term - Stolpersteine will continue to be made and laid over the next years and decades.
We thank you for your support and involvement and look forward to hearing from you.
- Anna Warda
termine@stolpersteine.eu
(for STOLPERSTEINE in Germany) - Anne Thomas
international@stolpersteine.eu
(for STOLPERSTEINE outside of Germany)
November 2013
16th of november 2013: STOLPERSTEINE is awarded the Lothar-Kreyssig-Friedenspreis in Magdeburg
December 2012
02.12.2012: STOLPERSTEINE is awarded the Marion Dönhoff Preis für internationale Verständigung und Versöhnung in Hamburg
07.11.2012
Awards ceremony for the European Citizens' Prize
May 2012
STOLPERSTEINE in Ettenheim
www.gegen-vergessen.de/regionale-ags/detailseite/article/stolpersteine-in-ettenheim.html
New York
Gunter Demnig will be awarded the Dr. Bernhard Heller Prize at Temple Emanu-El (One East 65th Street NY) on 3rd May.
April 2012
Stuttgart
The STUTTGARTER STOLPERSTEINE film is being screened on 15th April and will be followed by a Q&A.
Schloss Ludwigsburg
Gunter Demnig will be awarded the Order of Merit from the state of Baden-Württemberg on 28th April at Schloss Ludwigsburg.
November 2011
Bericht über Gunter Demnig auf dem SWR
>>> 13.Nov '11; 10.30 h; SWR TV <<<
MENSCHEN UNTER UNS
Die Gedenksteine des Gunter Demnig
' Ich bin da so hineingestolpert ... '
October 2011
DeutschlandFest Bonn 2011
Gedenkstätte für die Bonner Opfer des Nationalsozialismus
An der Synagoge e.V.
Franziskanerstr. 9
53113 Bonn
Samstag 2ter Okt '11 14.oo - 18.oo h
STOLPERSTEINE --- Gunter Demnig stellt sein Projekt vor
Informationen, Diskussionen, Gespräche
16.oo h Vortrag (möglich; nach Bedarf)
gedenkstaette-bonn@netcologne.de
July 2011
Steuerprüfung '04 bis '08
Eine gute und eine weniger gute Nachricht
Die meisten kennen vielleicht diese ’Geschichte’, dennoch hier eine kurze Chronik:
Anfang 2o1o erfolgte die Aufforderung, die Akten o6 bis o8 zu einer Steuerprüfung beim Finanzamt Köln-Altstadt einzureichen. Was wie ein ganz normaler Vorgang aussah, der jeden treffen kann, wuchs sich bald zu einem Alptraum aus. Die STOLPERSTEINE seien kein Kunstwerk mehr, da es inzwischen zu viele geworden sind. Von daher wurde entschieden; es ist ein „fabrikmäßig betriebenes Gewerbe“. Unsere Einsprüche und die Gutachten von Dr. Elke Purpus, Dr. Rolf Sachsse und Dr. Manfred Schneckenburger bewirkten nichts. Zwar war nun die Gewerbesteuer vom Tisch; aber der Steuersatz sollte plötzlich nicht der ermäßigte für ein Kunstwerk sein (7%), sondern volle 19% betragen - mit der Begründung, Stolpersteine seien ’Hinweisschilder aus Messingblech’ - laut Gutachten der zuständigen Zollbehörde.
Es stand eine Nachzahlung von ca. € 15o.ooo,-- zur Debatte sowie der Steuersatz von zukünftig 19% !
Meiner Steuerberaterin, Maxi Karine Stamer, ist bei soviel Ignoranz ’der Kragen geplatzt’ und wir gingen an die Öffentlichkeit --- unterstützt von Rechtsanwalt Guido Theißen. Nachdem die Sendung MONITOR das Thema aufgegriffen hatte, wurde die geforderte Nachzahlung fallen gelassen; dennoch wollte das Finanzamt zukünftig 19% berechnen. Dies war für mich ein skandalöser Kompromiss und das Problem damit noch immer nicht vom Tisch. Es folgte eine erneute Überprüfung;--- das Ergebnis teilte mir der NRW-Finanzminister Dr.Norbert Walter-Borjahns persönlich am Telephon mit:
Das Projekt/die Aktion wird als GesamtKunstwerk gesehen und es bleibt bei dem Steuersatz von 7% --- nicht der einzelne STOLPERSTEIN, sondern alle zusammen sollen als ein wachsendes KunstDenkMal gesehen werden.
Und nun die weniger gute Nachricht:
Wir haben den Preis für die Steine 1o Jahre stabil gehalten und wurden immer wieder gefragt: Wie macht ihr das eigentlich?
Aber die Preise sind in dieser Zeit zum Teil erheblich gestiegen: für Messing allein um 1oo% ; die Fahrtkosten schlagen höher zu Buche; das HelferTeam ist größer geworden; ... Deshalb müssen wir auch den Preis für Patenschaften anheben.
Ab Januar 2012 werden für jeden STOLPERSTEIN € 120,--berechnet.
Wir bitten um Verständnis und dementsprechende Informationen an die Paten.
Gunter Demnig
15.11.2010
Stolpersteine in der "Lindenstraße"
Wir möchten darauf aufmerksam machen, dass die „Stolpersteine“ ein Thema in folgenden Sendungen der „Lindenstraße“ sein werden: Am 14. November trägt die Sendung zugleich den Titel „Stolperstein“. Weiter geht es am 21. November und am 28. November. Die Verlegung der Steine erfolgt in der Episode am 5.12.2010. Dabei wird auf die „besondere“ Situation Münchens hingewiesen. Die Sendungen werden jeweils sonntags um 18.50 h in der ARD ausgestrahlt.
12.10.2010
Vor meiner Haustür
"Stolpersteine" von Gunter Demnig, Ein Begleitbuch
Herausgegeben von Joachim Rönneper, Arachne Verlag Gelsenkirchen, www.arachne-verlag.de
Klappenbroschur , 16 x 23 cm, ISBN 978-3-932005-40-4, 24,- Euro 
Foto: Karin Richert
Wer nicht stolpert, geht nicht
Dieser anthologische Sammelband vermittelt erstmals aus literarischer, dokumentarischer und kunsthistorischer Perspektive das europäische Kunstprojekt "Stolpersteine": ein Begleitbuch für vielerorts. Der editorische Spannungsbogen des Buches ist weit: Nach Informationen zum Projekt begegnet man im Hauptteil u.a. Kurzgeschichten, Gedichten, in denen Verfolgung, existentielle Beraubung und Exil mit Angst und Entsetzen vor Augen geführt werden. Es sind Texte von Überlebenden, Texte, die auf die millionenfache Menschenvernichtung während der NS-Zeit zeigen und die Hand in die Wunde unsäglicher Erschütterung legen. Der letzte Abschnitt widmet sich dem Künstler Gunter Demnig und macht deutlich, wie das Projekt "Stolpersteine" aus seinem Kunstverständnis hervorging.
Ein Foto, ein Titelbild, abgelichtet ein Mädchen, ich nenne sie Anna, Aufnahme s/w, ein Fahrrad an einer Hauswand, keine Straßenflucht, Pflastersteine, ein Bürgersteig. Anna hockt unweit eines Hauseinganges. Eigen ist sie gekleidet, die Hose eher großflächig kariert, im Gegensatz dazu ihr Pullover, Wollknäuel punktiert, Turnschuhe. Die Hände stützen einen hellen Kopf. Verschränkte Arme sehen anders aus. In ihrem langärmeligen Pullover hat sie ihre Hände fast versteckt: kleine Kissen für zarte Wangen. Sie liest Buchstaben, Wörter, keinen Fließtext. Sie weiß noch nicht, was sie da liest: HIER WOHNTE, deportiert, ermordet, in den Tod geflüchtet, Geburtsjahre und Todesdaten, Namen. Anna hockt vor Stolpersteinen, die nicht im Wege stehen. In aller Welt hocken Kinder zum Spielen nieder, in diesem Fall ein unbekanntes Mädchen, Anna, zurückgekämmt ihr feines Haar, die Ohren frei, das Gesicht bis zur Nase verdeckt, keine Chance für ein Phantombild. Anna aber spielt nicht, sie liest Inschriften, beinahe andächtig. Sie liest für alle einen oder zwei Stolpersteine. Theresienstadt. Was heißt das schon - KZ? Der elfte und der letzte Buchstabe im Alphabet. Kinder lernen. Wir sind das, woran wir uns erinnern. Auch Kinder gingen in Rauch auf - kein Sandkasten, kein Puppenwagen, kein Himmel mehr: Vor meiner Haustür.
Joachim Rönneper
Kontaktadresse:
Joachim Rönneper
www.joachim-roenneper.de
04.02.2010
Verlegung in Rom am 28. Januar 2010
An 8 Verlegeorten erinnern nun auch in der italienischen Hauptstadt die Stolpersteine an 31 NS-Opfer und Opfer des Faschismus. Eine Besonderheit dabei bildete die Verlegung der Stolpersteine vor der Carabinieri-Kaserne in der Viale Giulio Cesare für die Angehörigen der Carabinieri, junge Männer zwischen 20-25 Jahren, die sich damals den Befehlen der SS verweigert hatten, sich an den Deportationen zu beteiligen und so selber am 7. Oktober 1943 in den Tod deportiert worden sind. Eine Ehrenabordnung der Carabinieri nahm an der Verlegung dieser speziellen 12 Stolpersteine teil.
Carla Di Veroli, Ministerialrätin für Kulturpolitik, sagte: “Wir dürfen nicht vergessen, dass die Juden und Angehörigen anderer Opfergruppen deportiert wurden, weil die Nazis es befahlen, sondern auch, weil die italienischen Faschisten in den städtischen Ämtern das Hitler-Regime unterstützen. Sie gaben Listen mit den Namen und Wohnungen der Juden und anderen NS-Opfern an die Nazis weiter und wirkten so aktiv an den Deportationen der Menschen in die Vernichtungslager der Nazis mit.”
Die Stolpersteine sind nun ein bleibendes Zeichen der Erinnerungskultur, real und greifbar, schlicht und unaufdringlich sind sie Teil der Stadt Rom, ein integraler Bestandteil des täglichen Lebens geworden.
03.04.2009
Am 26. April 2009 erhält Gunter Demnig in Lübeck den Erich-Mühsam-Preis. Dieser wird alle zwei Jahre an Personen und Gruppen verliehen, die sich mit Zivilcourage und Idealismus für soziale Gerechtigkeit und verfolgte Minderheiten einsetzen.
Darüber hinaus zeichnet ihn die Jüdische Gemeinde Düsseldorf am 23. September 2009 mit der Josef-Neuberger-Medaille aus.
Diese wird jährlich seit 1991 an nicht-jüdische Persönlichkeiten des öffentlichen Lebens vergeben.
2008 erhielt Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel die Medaille.
20.08.2008
[Translate to English:]
Der Dokumentarfilm "STOLPERSTEIN"
73 min dt. / engl UT
Ein Film von Dörte Franke
Eine Produktion von HANFGARN & UFER Filmproduktion Berlin und TROIKA Entertainment Köln
+ wurde am 13. Juli 2008 auf dem renommierten Internationalen Filmfestival Locarno aufgeführt
+ Ausstrahlung der 52-minütigen Version am 7. September 2008 um 13:00 auf ARTE
+ am 8. Oktober 2008 auf dem Filmfestival in Osnabrück
+ am 1. November 2008 Kino-Premiere im Kölner Odeo-Kino
+ ab dem 6. November 2008 bundesweiter Kinostart
Es gibt die Möglichkeit, den Film auch in anderen Städten und Orten zu zeigen. Wer daran Interesse, bzw. auch Verbindungen zu örtlichen Kinobetreibern oder anderen Veranstaltungsorten hat, kann sich jederzeit mit dem Kino-Verleiher Jürgen Lütz in Verbindung setzen.
Jede öffentliche Aufführung muss von ihm lizensiert werden.
Eine Aufführungslizens kostet (in der Regel) 130,- Euro.
Ansprechpartner ist:
Jürgen Lütz
juergen.luetz@filmkinotext.de
www.filmkinotext.de
Tel. 0228 / 42 07 67
Eine DVD des Dokumentarfilms STOLPERSTEIN können Sie im Internet bestellen unter: amazon.de oder "Good movies".
Falls Sie dazu noch Fragen wenden Sie sich bitte direkt an die Produzentin:
Andrea Ufer
HANFGARN & UFER Filmproduktion
Reichenberger Str. 124
D - 10999 Berlin
Telefon: +49-30-84 85 5016
Fax: +49-30-84 85 5015
Mobil: 0177 88 333 95
e-mail: ufer@hu-film.de
www.HU-film.de
Kurz-Synopsis
Der Film Stolperstein ist sowohl Künstlerporträt als auch Roadmovie und zugleich die Geschichte des größten, dezentralen Denkmals der Welt. Im Zentrum steht Gunter Demnig, Konzept-Künstler mit Cowboyhut, der mittlerweile über 17.000 Namen vergessener Nazi-Opfer in die Bürgersteige Deutschlands und Europas einbetoniert hat.
Sein Projekt wird von Neonazis bekämpft, Vertretern der Jüdischen Gemeinde abgelehnt und ist mancherorts sogar verboten. Doch hinter jedem „Stolperstein“ stehen engagierte Helfer und private Spenden. In den letzten Jahren hat sich eine regelrechte Bürgerbewegung formiert, die täglich weiter wächst.
Der Film begleitet einen rastlosen Künstler, der es sich zur Lebensaufgabe gemacht hat, ausgelöschte Biografien zurück in den Alltag zu bringen. Und Gunter Demnigs Weg führt uns zu Menschen, bei denen diese Minidenkmäler auf ganz unterschiedliche Weise einen Nerv treffen: Zwei Sinti-Angehörige in Österreich sehen darin einen Grabsteinersatz für ihren Großvater, während in Hamburg drei Frauen mühevoll „Stolpersteine“ polieren, um das schwierige Erbe ihrer SS-Väter zu verarbeiten. Ein Mann in England kämpft um Stolpersteine vor dem Haus seiner ermordeten Eltern in München und scheitert am Münchner Bürger-meister und Charlotte Knobloch vom Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland.
Eine junge Frau in Ungarn will durch das Kunstprojekt ihre Landsleute zum Reden über eine verdrängte Vergangenheit bringen.
Immer mehr Menschen sehen in Gunter Demnigs kleinen Messingplatten eine Möglichkeit, der Geschichte zu begegnen. Die immense Nachfrage ist kaum mehr zu bewältigen. Der Künstler will aber weiterhin jeden Stein in mühsamer Handarbeit fertigen und verlegen, weil er davon überzeugt ist, dass nur so ein individuelles Schicksal nach Hause gebracht werden kann.
Der Film wurde in Koproduktion mit NDR, WDR und dem österreichischen Fernsehen ORF in Zusammenarbeit mit ARTE hergestellt. Filmförderung von Nordmedia, Verleihförderung von Filmstiftung NRW.
Fassungen: 73 min / 52 min / 45 min + dt. / engl UT
Festivals: Locarno, Leipzig, Osnabrück, Rom, Biberach, London, Amsterdam 2008, New York 2009; Preis: “Dokubiber” Bester Dokumentarfilm 2008, Biberach
14.06.2008
Gunter Demnig ist für das Projekt STOLPERSTEINE am 23. Mai 2008 in Berlin von Bundesinnenminister Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble und Bundesjustizministerin Brigitte Zypries der Preis „Botschafter für Demokratie und Toleranz“ verliehen worden.
Die Preisverleihung bildete den Höhepunkt des Jugendkongresses zum Tag des Grundgesetzes.
Damit werden Einzelpersonen und Initiativen geehrt, die in herausragender Weise die Werte des Grundgesetzes täglich leben und umsetzen.
Unser persönlicher Dank gebührt ebenso allen Paten, Helfern und Initiativen vor Ort.
Herzliche Grüße von Uta Franke und Gunter Demnig
11.05.2007
Erste STOLPERSTEINE in Budapest:
Am 27. April 2007 sind drei STOLPERSTEINE von Gunter Demnig verlegt worden.
In der Ráday Straße vor Hausnummer: 5 ein Stein für RÓNAI BÉLA
+ Hausnummer 25 ein Stein für VIDOR/WEISZ OSZKÁR<
+ Hausnummer 31 für POLLÁK IMRE
27.04.2007
Ausstellungseröffnung zum Projekt STOLPERSTEINE in der Galerie 2B.
Erstellt in Zusammenarbeit mit dem NS-Dokumentationszentrum Köln. 
26.04.2007
Gunter Demnig hielt einen Dia-Vortrag über das Projekt im Goetheinstitut.
Anschließende Podiumsdiskussion, Teilnehmer: Agnes Berger (Initiatorin der STOLPERSTEINE in Ungarn), Leiter des NS-Dokumentationszentrum Köln Dr. Werner Jung in Köln, Projektkoordinatorin Uta Franke und Historiker László Karsai
01.09.2006
Für das Projekt STOLPERSTEINE wurde Gunter Demnig am 20. August 2006 die "Alternative Ehrenbürgerschaft" der Stadt Köln verliehen.
Presse
Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, 17. August 2006:
Stolpersteine in den Weg gelegt Künstler Gunter Demnig erhält die
„Alternative Ehrenbürgerschaft“ mehr
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2. September 2006:
Stolpersteine Köln ehrt Gunter Demnig alternativ mehr
20.11.2005
24. Verleihung des Jugendpreises "DAS ROTE TUCH" an Gunter Demnig für die bundesweit verlegten STOLPERSTEINE Am 20. November 2005, 12 Uhr in der Schiller-Oberschule/Bln.-Charlottenburg Die Laudatio hält Walter Momper
"DAS ROTE TUCH" ist ein seit 1978 jährlich von der SPD Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf mit Unterstützung des Berliner SPD-Landesverbandes gestifteter Jugendmedienpreis
15.10.2005
Für das Projekt STOLPERSTEINE wurde Gunter Demnig am 4. Oktober 2005, in der Orangerie des Schlosses Charlottenburg der Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland durch Bundespräsident Horst Köhler verliehen.
