Humanizing Remembrance, Reproducing Contention: The Stolpersteine Project and the Nazi Past in Reunified Germany

Since artist Gunter Demnig laid the first ones in Berlin, Germany in 1996, the Stolpersteine (stumbling blocks) have grown into a popular commemorative project across Europe. This article places the Stolpersteine in the history of Germany's confrontation with the Nazi past (Vergangenheitsbewältigung) and explores the meaning and reception of these blocks in the Berlin Republic. Demnig's project holds personal, educational, and political importance for those who have sponsored stones and for many people who "stumble" upon them. But, the continued controversy over the blocks' meaning, and their frequent theft and vandalism across Germany, reinforce the unending nature of Vergangenheitsbewältigung.