Stumbling block initiator Demnig sharply criticizes Heidenauer's ban
Heidenau city council prohibits new stumbling blocks in public spaces - Gunter Demnig accuses the CDU of alienation from Christian values.
Quick Look
- Artist Gunter Demnig criticizes the ban on new stumbling blocks in public spaces in Heidenau.
- He accuses the CDU of having moved away from Christian values and emphasizes the importance of decentralized remembrance of Nazi victims in front of their former homes.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Heidenau city council decided, with the votes of the AfD and CDU, not to allow any new stumbling blocks in public streets and instead to move the commemoration to the cemetery.
The artist Gunter Demnig has reacted with clear criticism to the decision of the city council of Heidenau near Dresden not to allow any new stumbling blocks in public streets. The initiator of the Stolperstein project said he had expected such a step.
“After the AfD’s election successes, it was certainly to be expected that something like this would happen,” explained the 78-year-old from Alsfeld in central Hesse. He accused the CDU of having moved away from Christian values. The party “should perhaps delete its C. Because they have probably left the Christian aspect behind them.”
The city council of the Saxon city had a majority approved a corresponding proposal from the AfD and CDU on Thursday evening. Many citizens, relatives and initiatives do not consider this form of remembrance of the victims of National Socialism to be appropriate, it said. Instead of further stumbling blocks, the memory of victims of National Socialism should, according to the applicants' wishes, preferably take place in the Northern Cemetery.
Demnig rejected this alternative. The memory must remain visible where the people lived, he said. Stumbling blocks bring the names of the victims and the past back to the present and make history tangible, especially for young people locally. A person is only forgotten when his name is forgotten. Relatives in particular wanted the stones. The artist said he hoped the ban in Heidenau would remain an exception. He will “now really move on.”
In Munich, for example, no stumbling blocks are laid on urban property. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, vehemently rejected the stumbling blocks and advocated, in her view, more worthy alternatives.
The Stolpersteine form of commemoration has been around since the 1990s and in many European countries. The small stones, which are usually financed by donations, are laid at the last known place of residence or work of victims of National Socialism - their names and dates of life are written on a brass plate on the top of the stones.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Continuation of the Stolperstein project outside Heidenau by Demnig
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- Does the ban in Heidenau remain legally valid?
- Are there reactions from other municipalities?
