Local representatives of the far-right Alternative Party for Germany (AfD) and the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) today banned the placement of new “memory stones” in the city of Heidenau in the east of the country.
© Robert Michael/picture alliance via Getty Images
25/09/2026
by
Lusa
ANDthis act of local political cooperation has already provoked the rejection of the project promoters.
“ It is hard to understand how this could happen,” said Katja Demnig, head of the foundation that manages the “Stolpersteine” project or “stones of memory”.
The name of the initiative refers to small concrete blocks in which a metal plate is formed, located in front of buildings where victims of the persecution of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany — a period that resulted in the death of six million Jews.
On the plate, of a characteristic golden color, are engraved the names of the Holocaust victims.
“ I can understand that not everyone likes the stones, but the motion states textually that, in most municipal chambers of Germany, they are viewed critically, and that is not true,” said Demnig, referring to the decision taken by the councillors of Heidenau.
On Thursday, according to the daily Bild, the proposal of AfD and CDU councilors was approved, which also had the contribution of representatives of the Upper Elbe Citizen Initiative for More Democracy (BOD) to prohibit the placement of new stones.
“ In the future, the installation of so-called ‘memory stones’ on public roads and tours will be rejected”, reads in the motion, Bild reported.
The vote took 13 votes in favour of banning new “stones of memory”, six votes against and one abstention.
According to Demnig, the result of this vote is a “break of confidence” by the CDU in relation to its voters, as the party, led by the current Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, officially rejects any cooperation with the AfD, as well as the other parties represented in the German Parliament.
“ Since Friedrich Merz often claims that a sanitary cord is being maintained around the AfD — and that it will not be broken — this, of course, represents a breach of confidence for all CDU voters,” he said, referring to cooperation between Christian Democrats and the extreme right against the “stones of memory”.
The initiative adopted establishes the preference for acts in memory of the victims of the Holocaust to take place in a cemetery in Heidenau, which Demnig also condemned.
“ Now let us destroy their names outside the city center, take them to the cemetery and leave them there, with the intention of creating historical memory there, it is an authentic madness ", criticized the person responsible, about the destiny to give the names of the victims whose oblivion by society this project intends to prevent.
In Saxony, the federal state of eastern Germany, where Heidenau is situated, the CDU demonstrated a split against the measure adopted by the city councillors of about 17,000 inhabitants.
Although regional president Michael Kretschmer, Christian Democrat Michael Kretschmer, stated that the municipalities are free to honor the victims of national socialism in any way they deem appropriate, the party’s secretary-general in the region, Tom Unger, supported the initiative of the Demnig foundation, local newspaper Sächsische Zeitung reported.
In Berlin, the Federal Government, composed of the CDU and the Social Democrats, did not want to comment on Heidenau's decision.
Government spokesman Steffen Meyer admitted at a regular press conference in the German capital today that he was aware of this through the media, and stressed: “The memory, in particular that of the victims of the Holocaust, is a very important theme for us”.