"Stolper nicht!"

I have wondered why the stones are called Stolpersteine and whether they are raised a little above the rest of the sidewalk. If they are raised, don’t passersby stolper and even fall?

As a child in Berlin, I recall my parents’ warning, “Stolper nicht.” We left in 1937 and my husband and my children have been back. I am always amazed how much I remember such as the ice cream store, Balsam, I think, near the Olivaer Platz. I still have my Lesekasten with cubes which include the older as well as the modern alphabet. Although I still speak fluent German, my written German is a lot harder to do correctly. We enjoy reading aktuell and hope it will keep coming.

Ruth Radvany
New York, USA

• Liebe Frau Radvany,
  vielen Dank für Ihre Frage. Die Stolpersteine stehen nicht hervor. Man „stolpert“ im übertragenen Sinne: Mitten im Alltag wird man plötzlich an eine Person erinnert, die einmal an diesem Ort gelebt hat, und an ihr Schicksal.

  Redaktion aktuell

• Dear Ms Radvany,
  Many thanks for your questions. The Stolpersteine are not actually raised. So, people only “stolper’ in a fgurative sense – suddenly, in the middle of daily life, one is reminded of a person who once lived at this house, and of the fate they suffered.

  aktuell editorial team