Koblenz Off The Beaten Path Tips by Elena77 Top 5 Page for this destination

Stolpersteine

While walking through the streets of Koblenz you might come across some small brazen plates set into the pavement. These plates are part of a project of the German artist Gunter Demnig called Stolpersteine (which means stumbling blocks). They’re dedicated to victims of the NS regime. Each one of the 10 square centimetres sized plates has got an engraving with some details about an individual victim, like the person’s name, the dates of birth of deportation and of death, etc. The plates have been installed right in front of the houses the victims used to inhabit.
The Stolpersteine project was initiated in 1994 and meanwhile around 17,000 blocks have been set (most of them in Germany and Austria but some also in the Netherlands, Hungary and the Czech Republic). I believe that this is an amazing project as it makes people realize that the atrocities of the NS-regime have not only happened at places „far away“ but also right at their neighbourhoods.
The „Stumbling Blocks“ that can be seen on the photo are dedicated to members of the Brasch family who have been killed at Auschwitz and Treblinka or have suffered from deprivation of rights in the early 1940’s. These memorials can be found at the crossing of Rizzastr. and Bahnhofstr., right in front of the Sparkasse (savings bank). In Koblenz more Stolpersteine can be found at Johannes-Müller-Str. and at Mainzer Str.

Other Contact: info@stolpersteine.com

Phone: +49 221/ 25 14 89

Website: http://www.stolpersteine.com