Stumbling blocks

Stumbling. Remembering. Never forgetting – Stolpersteine in Radebeul

Since 2005, 16 Stolpersteine have been laid in Radebeul in memory of people who lived here – and who were disenfranchised, humiliated, expelled, mistreated or murdered under National Socialism.

Stumbling Stones are an art and memorial project by >> Gunter Demnig. In 1995, he began producing concrete cubes with brass plaques inscribed with the names, dates of birth and death, stages of persecution and the fate of those persecuted. These are usually laid in front of the last freely chosen place of residence of those persecuted. Over 107,000 Stolpersteine have now been laid throughout Europe.

The first five >> Stolpersteine for the Freund family were laid on 26 July 2005 in Moritzburger Straße. On the initiative of the Radebeul History Working Group and pupils from the Lößnitz Gymnasium, the town council decided in December 2022 to continue laying further Stolpersteine in Radebeul. Three further Stolpersteine for the Schaye family followed on 17 June 2024 >> on Augustusweg and on >> Meißner Straße. The Radebeul History Working Group organises the installations in collaboration with schools in Radebeul and the >> association ‘Stolpersteine für Dresden e. V.’.

Alongside other memorials, the Stolpersteine show that Radebeul, too, was a place of exclusion, persecution and crime during the Nazi era. They invite passers-by to look, pause and explore the biographies behind the names – as starting points for an active culture of remembrance. To this end, various institutions in the town are sponsoring the Stolpersteine.

Further reading:
>> Ingrid Lewek/Wolfgang Tarnowski, Jews in Radebeul 1933–1945, expanded and revised edition, Radebeul 2008