HEIDENAU — The town council motion stated that future memorials to Nazi victims should be placed at the Nordfriedhof cemetery. The vote took place via secret ballot, resulting in 13 votes in favor, six opposed, and one abstention. The motion was jointly submitted by representatives of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the Oberelbe Alliance for More Democracy.

Proponents argued that many residents regarded Stolpersteine as inappropriate because passersby step on the names of victims. The motion stated that placing memorials at the Nordfriedhof cemetery would make it impossible to step directly onto the memorial elements. The city administration recommended that council members reject the proposal.

In 2025, the Alternative Kultur- und Bildungszentrum (AKuBiZ) from Pirna submitted an application to install seven additional Stolpersteine in Heidenau, which triggered the current decision. Local activists had submitted a request in February 2025 to install stones for Martha and Fritz Goldstein, offering to cover the costs.

Karin Prien, Germany's Education Minister, described the ban as a scandal. "Anyone who banishes Stolpersteine and memorial sites commemorating Jewish life from public spaces to the cemetery is prioritising death over life and rendering Jewish people invisible once again," Prien said. She stated that her CDU party in Saxony bore responsibility for the decision.

Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community in Munich, described removing memorials from the cityscape as completely the wrong approach. "I am appalled that a democratic party would stoop to supporting such a transparent manoeuvre by the extremists of the AfD," Knobloch said. She stated that decentralized remembrance which is not banished from public space is crucial to a genuine culture of remembrance.

Gunter Demnig initiated the Stolperstein project in the 1990s. Demnig stated that given the recent electoral successes of the AfD, it was certainly to be expected that something like this would happen. He stated that the CDU should perhaps drop its 'C' because they have clearly left Christianity behind. Demnig stated that Stolpersteine must be visible in the specific locations where people used to live or work and help bring history to life for young people.

The AfD in Saxony has been classified as extreme-right by German intelligence. The AfD rejects the classification. The party recently secured major victories in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Alexander Gauland, co-founder of the AfD, described the Nazi era as merely bird shit in an otherwise successful 1,000 years of German history.

Stolpersteine are small brass plaques embedded in streets in memory of Jews and other victims of Nazi atrocities. They are often placed outside the houses where victims used to live or work. Each bears the individual's name and details of their fate.

To date, 116,000 Stolpersteine plaques have been installed across 31 countries. The vast majority are installed in Germany.

In Munich, there are no Stolpersteine on municipal land. The city allows memorial plaques on public buildings instead. In 2015, Munich passed a resolution to prohibit the installation of Stolpersteine on public property, following objections from Knobloch, who argued that placing names of Holocaust victims on the ground was inappropriate. Heidenau is a town near Dresden in the state of Saxony.

Why It Matters

The decision in Heidenau reflects a broader debate over how Holocaust remembrance should be integrated into public spaces. The collaboration between the CDU and AfD in passing the ban has been noted by national political figures and Jewish community leaders, who argue that removing these memorials from everyday view diminishes their impact. The AfD's growing political influence in Saxony, where it has been classified as extreme-right by German intelligence, provides context for the shift in local policy.

The Stolperstein project represents the largest decentralized monument in the world, with installations in thousands of communities. The Heidenau ban aligns with precedents in cities like Munich, where similar concerns about the placement of names on the ground led to prohibitions. However, critics maintain that decentralized remembrance is essential for maintaining a genuine culture of remembrance and keeping history visible in daily life.

Timeline

Paul Gröger was arrested in June 1933. Paul Gröger took his own life on August 27, 1933. The first Stolperstein in Heidenau was placed outside the town hall in 2021 to remember Paul Gröger.

Local activists submitted a request to the Heidenau municipality in February 2025 to install Stolpersteine for Martha and Fritz Goldstein. The Heidenau city council vote on the Stolpersteine ban resulted in 13 votes in favor, six opposed, and one abstention. Under the Heidenau resolution, applications to install new Stolpersteine in public streets and sidewalks will be rejected. The Heidenau city council voted on the Stolpersteine ban via secret ballot.

What's New

Heidenau's five Stolpersteine include one for Paul Gröger, Heidenau's first mayor, and four for members of the Jewish Reiner family, with the latter installed via a student-led initiative in 2023. In 2025, the Alternative Kultur- und Bildungszentrum (AKuBiZ) from Pirna submitted an application to install seven additional Stolpersteine in Heidenau, which was the immediate trigger for the current decision to ban new Stolpersteine on public streets and sidewalks. Gunter Demnig, the artist behind the Stolperstein project, has explicitly stated that the Heidenau ban was 'completely expected' due to the recent electoral successes of the AfD, which has gained significant political influence in Saxony.

The Heidenau city council motion to ban new Stolpersteine was supported by 13 members, including representatives from the AfD and CDU, with six opposing and one abstaining, according to the official vote tally. In addition to the five existing Stolpersteine in Heidenau, local activists had submitted a request in February 2025 to install stones for Martha and Fritz Goldstein, offering to cover the costs of installation. The Heidenau Stadtrat's resolution to ban new Stolpersteine was based on a Beschlussvorlage (decision proposal) from the city administration, which explicitly argued that public memorials should remain visible in everyday spaces to preserve historical awareness.

How Sources Differ

Sources differ on the total number of Stolpersteine installed globally. One account states that over 128,000 Stolpersteine have been installed globally since the project's inception in 1992, with 1,860 communities across 31 countries hosting the memorials, according to the Stolperstein project's official records.

Reports on the Heidenau city council vote vary in detail.

Another confirms that the Heidenau city council voted to ban the installation of new Stolpersteine memorial stones on public streets and sidewalks.

Accounts of the Stolperstein project's origin also differ. One source claims the Stolperstein project, initiated by Gunter Demnig in 1993, has resulted in over 128,000 brass plaques installed across Germany and 30 other countries, making it the largest decentralized monument in the world.