The eastern German town of Heidenau has halted the installation of new “Stolpersteine” — small brass plaques placed in pavements to commemorate people persecuted and killed under Nazi rule.
The town council voted on 24 September to prevent further plaques from being installed in public streets and instead proposed creating a dedicated memorial area, preferably at the town’s northern cemetery. Heidenau currently has five Stolpersteine, while an additional 12 had been proposed.
The decision was supported by local members of Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union and the far-right Alternative for Germany, triggering wider debate over Holocaust remembrance and cooperation between mainstream parties and the AfD.
Supporters of the decision argue that placing memorial plaques in pavements means the names of victims can be stepped on and exposed to dirt and weather. They favour a central memorial location instead. The town administration has also stressed that remembrance of victims of National Socialism should remain part of Heidenau’s public landscape.
Critics, including Jewish representatives and Holocaust remembrance groups, argue that removing the plaques from places where victims once lived would diminish their visibility and the personal nature of the memorial project.
The controversy has placed Heidenau at the centre of a broader German debate over how the country remembers the Nazi era.
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