Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) are small, inconspicuous stones inserted into the ground, yet they belong to the largest and best-known memorial project worldwide: to this day, there are more than 100,000 ‘stumbling stones’ in 31 countries. Each stone is dedicated to an individual victim of the Holocaust, carrying their name, date and place of death or arrest by National Socialist perpetrators, and placed in the streets where they were taken by force. The project was founded by German artist Gunter Demnig whose commitment to the remembrance of Holocaust victims was sparked by finding out that his father had served in the German Wehrmacht. His idea was to make people “stumble with their minds and hearts” on their daily walks around the city and to draw their attention to the violence that happened right there not so long ago.

My article explores the landscape of ‘stumbling stones’ in Austria’s capital city. Vienna is unique in that the official Stolpersteine were avoided for a long time while many cities in Germany and other countries welcomed them. In their place, five separate organisations have been installing similar stones to commemorate victims of the Shoah and the Holocaust, despite having been accused of plagiarism by artist Gunter Demnig. In the text, I analyse the structures and statements of these organisations and embed them in the context of modern Austria’s relationship with its National Socialist past. My thesis is that ‘stumbling stones’ in Vienna are indicative of a reluctance to acknowledge historical responsibility, despite the fact that activists have the best intentions and do crucial and fruitful memorial work. So far, there has been no investigation into this topic. As a historian, I chose to share my findings in AMPS to increase awareness inside and outside Austria as well as the field of historical research.

The facts on the ground: why we should be talking about Austria’s Stolpersteine by Carina Siegl (University of Vienna) is published in Architecture_MPS, volume 29.

Austrian identity national identity Holocaust commemoration stumbling stones Stolpersteine memorial culture