In a move that has ignited a firestorm of criticism across Germany, the town council of Heidenau, located near Dresden, has voted to ban the installation of 'stumbling stone' memorials—small brass plaques embedded in sidewalks to commemorate victims of the Nazi regime—on public streets.
The motion, supported by council members from both the AfD and the CDU, seeks to relocate these memorials to the town's Nordfriedhof cemetery. Proponents of the measure argue that placing these markers in the ground, where they are walked upon, is inappropriate and that a cemetery setting provides a more respectful environment for commemoration.
However, the decision has been met with immediate hostility from the political establishment. German Education Minister Karin Prien, a member of the CDU, lashed out at the decision, labeling it a 'scandal' and claiming that moving the markers to a cemetery renders Jewish history invisible.
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community in Munich, also criticized the move, accusing the local CDU of enabling the AfD.
The 'stumbling stone' project, initiated by artist Gunter Demnig in the 1990s, has become a fixture in many European cities, though some municipalities, including Munich, have historically opted for different methods of memorialization.
As the AfD continues to gain electoral momentum in eastern Germany, this local council vote highlights a deepening divide over how the nation should manage its historical memory in the public square.
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