Would you like to be part of the world's largest decentralized memorial and realize the Stolpersteine art memorial in your community? Please follow these steps:
A "permit for the installation of STOLPERSTEINE in public spaces" must be applied for with the mayor or city/town council. After installation, the STOLPERSTEINE become part of the sidewalk, entering public space and thus becoming the property of the municipality. Therefore, they can be seen as a gift from the citizens to their city.
If STOLPERSTEINE have already been installed in your municipality, please contact us to get in touch with the local initiators. In this case, please reach out to Susanne Weeber.
It is advisable to involve the local mayor, archivists, and members of local history and heritage associations in order to uncover more detailed information about individual fates and the associated historical sources. In this context, collaboration with the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime (VVN) has also proven valuable.
Additionally, trade unions can be consulted regarding political victims, and churches or Jewish communities can be approached about religiously persecuted victims. Associations for Roma and Sinti, organizations for homosexuals, and victim associations of Jehovah's Witnesses can also provide information. Background information about the victims of so-called Nazi "euthanasia" or medical murders can be found in the respective clinics and also in the memorials of Aktion T4.
Further information can be obtained
We consider the online accessible memorial book of the Federal Archives to be a relatively reliable source. Inscriptions should generally match the data found there. If, in the course of local Stolperstein research, verifiable or at least reliable additional or differing information comes to light, feedback to the Federal Archives, citing the source, is very welcome. Please use the feedback option provided with each individual entry. However, please note that the Federal Archives may not be able to immediately update the relevant entries in the memorial book.
Particularly desirable is the involvement of schools and the participation of students in developing inscriptions and organizing an installation. Experience shows that their interest is usually very high. Below, you will find information about our educational support provided by Katja Demnig.
We ask you to locate the relatives of the victims and inform them about the upcoming STOLPERSTEIN installation. You can use various online search services or social media for this purpose. Information and inquiries in Yad Vashem or other local and international archives are also usually very fruitful. Please leave no stone unturned in this regard, as experience shows that family members often travel to attend the installation. Many consider the STOLPERSTEINE to be an important part of their personal reckoning with the past.
In this context, we would also like to point out that you should not request money from the victims or their relatives for the installation. However, if the families insist on covering the costs because it is a personal matter for them, there is, of course, nothing wrong with that.
In some municipalities, the residents of the houses in front of which Stolpersteine are laid are also informed. Although this is not strictly necessary, as the sidewalk belongs to the city, it can help to avoid conflicts and also foster empathy for the STOLPERSTEINE among the residents.
One Person – One Stone – One Fate
Each victim receives their own stone. This project commemorates all victims persecuted or murdered by the National Socialists: Jewish people; Sinti and Roma; politically persecuted individuals; religiously persecuted individuals; Jehovah's Witnesses; people with intellectual and/or physical disabilities; people persecuted due to their sexual orientation or skin color; people persecuted as "asocial," such as the homeless or prostitutes; forced laborers and deserters; and, ultimately, all individuals who were discriminated against and persecuted based on National Socialist ideology. In this sense, we lay STOLPERSTEINE not only for murdered individuals but also for Holocaust survivors.
Our requirement for laying STOLPERSTEINE is that in remembrance, families are "reunited." Therefore, surviving family members at the corresponding address are also included and receive a STOLPERSTEIN: for example, children who were brought to safety; youths who emigrated to Palestine; relatives who managed to escape; concentration camp survivors; and others. We also remember those who ended their lives under the pressure of the circumstances at that time.
Therefore, we ask you to research and convey the family fates as comprehensively as possible for the period from 1933 to the end of the war in 1945. In any case, the fate of the entire family should be documented. Please provide details of both deported/murdered and escaped/surviving family members. If you choose to lay STOLPERSTEINE, we assume that you accept the entire concept of our memorial art project and wish to commemorate all victim groups.
Please determine the correct installation address along with the inscriptions and provide it. The STOLPERSTEINE should be placed in front of the last self-chosen residence— not at the location where the victims were forcibly moved (such as in front of the so-called "Jewish houses"). If the original building no longer exists, the stones will be laid at a nearby, easily visible spot. STOLPERSTEINE are not collected in a central location, nor are they laid in front of prisons, deportation camps, or cemeteries. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis, but these must be discussed and weighed with us. A STOLPERSTEIN usually bears the heading: HERE LIVED.
Other possibilities include: HERE LEARNED, HERE TAUGHT, HERE WORKED, HERE PRACTICED (e.g., for doctors) and HERE LIVED (e.g., for residents of care homes). Additionally, stones without a heading are also possible.
The following information must be researched for the inscription:
Possible fates include: DEAD or MURDERED; for unclear cases: FATE UNKNOWN.
Instead of "suicide," we write ESCAPE INTO DEATH. We do not use the term "missing," nor do we use the term "DEAD," as this suggests a natural death. Similarly, we do not use the terms "emigration" or "migration." Instead, we use: ESCAPE + YEAR + the destination country.
Please send the inscriptions 4 months before the installation via email in the format we provide. You will receive drafts of the inscriptions for review before the STOLPERSTEINE are produced.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding an inscription, Andreas Ullmann (for installations in Germany), Alexander Stukenberg (for installations in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands), Nikola Brunner & Andreas Ullmann (for installations in Austria and Switzerland), or Dr. Anne Thomas (for all other installations outside of Germany) will be happy to advise you.
The final decision on the wording of the inscriptions rests with the artist Gunter Demnig. The data will be engraved into the brass plaque as agreed upon by all parties involved.
There is a great deal of interest in the installation of STOLPERSTEINE, and we strive to accommodate all requests. If you would like to install STOLPERSTEINE, please send an email with the approximate number of locations and stones to Susanne Weeber. Feel free to also use our request form.
Please agree within the community on a contact person who will be primarily responsible for communicating with the STOLPERSTEIN team. To ensure that interested parties can contact your initiative directly, we ask that you return our attached consent form for data processing signed with your initial application so that we can continue to process your request smoothly.
Currently, if you want to arrange installations with Gunter Demnig, you must expect a waiting period of at least nine months. However, if you are considering a joint installation without Gunter Demnig, the waiting time for stone delivery is only about 6-8 months.
Please only reserve a date for your installations once you have received or are very likely to soon receive the municipality's approval for the installation of STOLPERSTEINE. This way, we can try to avoid major schedule changes.
Appointment requests for STOLPERSTEIN installations outside of Germany are coordinated by Alexander Stukenberg, Nikola Brunner & Andreas Ullmann, or Dr. Anne Thomas, who is responsible for appointment requests in all countries except Austria and Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands, and Germany.
You can contact our three appointment coordinators with any questions regarding possible dates, the organization of your installation, or inscriptions.
For installations outside of Germany, the current waiting time is approximately nine months; depending on route planning, it may take longer.
We try to organize Gunter Demnig's installation trips as efficiently as possible, usually routing through a region and neighboring places.
For this reason, when you make an appointment request, you will first only be given the month in which the installation is expected to take place. The exact date (day, time, and any overnight stay) will be provided once a tour through the respective country/federal area has been planned. This usually happens six months before the installation.
Unfortunately, schedule changes cannot always be avoided, for example, when locations cancel at short notice or weather-related new plans are needed. As a result, the entire trip often needs to be re-planned. We ask for your understanding if a date should change at short notice. STOLPERSTEIN installations can also take place on holidays: To fulfill as many installation requests as possible, the schedule is very tightly organized.
Sunday installations are naturally possible and often desired for this reason.
For appointment requests in Germany, please contact:
For appointment requests in Belgium, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands, please contact:
For appointment requests in Austria and Switzerland, please contact:
Nikola Brunner & Andreas Ullmann
E-Mail: aut-ch@stolpersteine.eu
For appointment requests in the remaining countries, please contact:
The STOLPERSTEINE are still often installed by Gunter Demnig himself – this is mandatory for the first installation in a community.
With help or preparation by the local building authority, Gunter Demnig usually needs maximum 20 minutes per installation site. Travel times between sites must be calculated accordingly. Gunter Demnig can handle a maximum of 8 installation sites per day.
If necessary, please apply to the public order office for a special use permit for his Peugeot delivery van with license plate VB-GD 1027 and the following dimensions: height = 1.95m, length = 5.30m, and width = 1.92m.
In case of emergency (for example, illness, traffic disruptions, or extreme weather conditions), the FOUNDATION – TRACES – Gunter Demnig reserves the right to postpone or cancel the installation or production of STOLPERSTEINE. We always strive to accommodate all requests and avoid canceling or postponing installations. However, as we are a small team and cannot always rule out unexpected problems, we ask for your understanding should a cancellation occur.
If you are planning a small ceremony or program for the installation, feel free to begin while Gunter Demnig is installing. As his schedule is often very tight, he may need to continue traveling soon – even if the program is not yet completed. Please communicate this to those present so that no one feels offended. If family members or official persons are unable to attend the installation, feel free to plan a ceremonial unveiling or memorial service at a later date. The design of the ceremony is in your hands – just please consider any travel times and onward journeys of Gunter Demnig. As a help, you can find a checklist on our homepage to prepare for the installation.
Please prepare the corresponding sites together with the local building authority staff before the installation.
Gunter Demnig usually still installs the first STOLPERSTEINE in new communities himself, but when he has been to a community repeatedly, so-called community installations (GmVs) in Gunter Demnig's absence are possible after consultation with our appointment coordinators. Without these, waiting times for installation appointments would continue to increase.
Community installations are installations that can be planned and carried out independently by local initiators together with local building authority staff, relatives, students, and others without Gunter Demnig. We chose this designation because over the years we have noticed increasing participation from many different initiators and organizers in installations and would like to recognize and honor their work in this way.
The community installations should also be registered by the respective city contact person. These will then include the community installation in our schedule according to planning status and production capacity and specify a month in which the stones will be shipped.
The number of possible STOLPERSTEINE for your community installations depends on our production capacities. Even for community installations, you must expect a waiting time of 6 to 8 months, depending on the planning status.
Please send us the inscriptions for the community installations 4 months before the shipping date. This is the only way we can commission production in time. When you submit the inscriptions, please also send us an address that can ideally be delivered to all day and also on Saturdays. During the discussion of the inscriptions, we will also provide you with information about the arrangement of the STOLPERSTEINE, the installation in general, and the building authority.
The preparation and assistance from the construction yard staff have become essential: the construction yard staff should prepare the sites for the installation. You will receive detailed instructions regarding this from Andreas Ullmann approximately three months before the installation as part of the inscription coordination.
When preparing with the construction yard, it is important to ensure that the installation site is determined in collaboration with the local initiators. The disposal of debris and any necessary power supply should also be clarified in advance with the construction yard.
The STOLPERSTEINE are not placed directly against the house wall but approximately in the middle of the sidewalk (about 30-40 cm from the house wall)—usually directly in front of the entrance or under the house number. For asphalt surfaces, it is recommended that the stones be laid at an angle to the facade. The stones should be positioned so that the inscription is readable when looking at the house. In such cases, please consult with Gunter or Katja Demnig.
The STOLPERSTEINE have the following dimensions: 96 x 96 mm and a height of 100 mm. Please allow 5 mm for the joints—no more! In general, the excavation for the concrete bed in which the stones are set should be max. 12 cm deep. These specifications do not apply to concrete paving.
Please note that STOLPERSTEINE for a family should be arranged together—side by side with joints (for couples) or one above the other (for different generations of a family).
The arrangement also depends on local conditions, such as the type of paving, the width of the sidewalk, etc.
With an eye on potential future community installations, construction yard staff should be present during the installation to observe Gunter Demnig's methods. Ideally, they will then be able to install the stones themselves during subsequent installations.
A description of the possible installation sites with exact measurements in advance is very helpful to ensure that the right equipment and the appropriate filler stones and other materials are on hand.
If STOLPERSTEINE are damaged or removed, please contact Susanne Weeber (for Germany) or Alexander Stukenberg (for Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands), Nikola Brunner & Andreas Ullmann (for Austria and Switzerland), and Dr. Anne Thomas (for all other countries). The stones should be replaced as soon as possible.
You will also find a cleaning guide on our website on how to maintain and clean the Stolpersteine after installation.
The installation of a STOLPERSTEIN costs €120 within Germany and €132 outside of Germany. This price includes preparatory work, additional research, material costs, production, shipping/delivery, travel expenses, installation, and entry into the database. The stones are handcrafted by six STOLPERSTEIN designers.
The cost of a STOLPERSCHWELLE depends on the size and text of the threshold and, due to the multi-day production process and more intensive preparation, is significantly higher than that of a Stolperstein—usually between €1,250 and €1,750.
Please note that depending on the installation route, additional costs for accommodation may be incurred. If Gunter Demnig stays overnight in your town, please reserve a hotel room and inform us of the address. Since Gunter Demnig is on the road for nearly 300 days a year and often works on his computer after installations, we kindly ask you to avoid booking accommodations in youth hostels or private homes. In the case of particularly unfavorable or long driving distances, a travel cost share may be charged, but we try to avoid this during the planning of his routes.
The STOLPERSTEINE are financed through donations and sponsorships. Sponsorships can be taken up by private individuals, institutions, educational institutions, companies, associations, or political parties.
We operate on a trust basis. You pay for the stones only after they have been shipped or installed. The invoice will be sent to you via email approximately 7 to 14 days after the installation. Your invoice for the installed or shipped STOLPERSTEINE will be sent to you via email.
We only send cost estimates in special cases. Please understand that we do not register with unfamiliar payment systems to receive your payment. Please refrain from special requests of this kind, as they exceed our administrative capacities. With the invoice, you will receive all the information you need for further processing.
When making a payment, please be sure to include the invoice number and transfer the total amount in one payment. Please do not pay in multiple installments or split the sum without prior agreement. Do not forward the invoice to other payees without informing us. If we cannot match the received payment with the original invoice address, the invoice remains unpaid on our end, which may lead to a reminder and unnecessary costs for you.
If you have any questions about your invoice, please contact Sonja Steinacker.
Upon request, Gunter Demnig also gives a lecture on the topic "STOLPERSTEINE – TRACES and PATHS". In this lecture, Gunter Demnig outlines his artistic development, from his first works in 1968 up to and including the STOLPERSTEINE project. The lecture lasts approximately 50 minutes, followed by a discussion session. It is advisable to invite the local press to this event.
The lecture can be used both in advance to inform citizens and/or students before a Stolperstein installation, to raise funds for the installation of STOLPERSTEINE, or as a complement to ongoing Stolperstein installations.
The fee for a lecture is €200.00 + 19% VAT + possible accommodation costs.
Gunter Demnig delivers the lecture in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. Providing a projector and a laptop is required for this. The presentation is on a USB stick and should be transferred to a hard drive before the start (390 MB). If you would like to organize a lecture by Gunter Demnig, please contact Susanne Weeber (for Germany) or Alexander Stukenberg (for Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands), Nikola Brunner & Andreas Ullmann (for Austria and Switzerland), and Dr. Anne Thomas (for all other countries).
If you are planning a lecture or workshop at your school independently of participation in a STOLPERSTEIN installation or exclusively on the topic of "STOLPERSTEINE," you are welcome to contact Katja Demnig, who will prepare individually for your student group and class. The fee for 2 school hours is €100.00 + 19% VAT + possible accommodation costs.