East German town bans new Holocaust-memory ‘stumbling blocks,’ with AfD, CDU support

By Reuters 25 September 2026, 3:14 pm

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Then-US ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann touches the freshly laid 'Stolpersteine' (stumbling stones) for members of her family in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, on May 30, 2023. (Thomas Kienzle/AFP)

An East German town approves a motion by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and ruling center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to reject future installation of brass plaques commemorating victims of Nazi persecution.

The “Stolpersteine” are a prominent feature of Germany’s Holocaust remembrance culture. The council votes to stop further plaques and for future commemorations to be concentrated at a memorial site on the town’s northern cemetery.

The decision comes as the AfD tops national polls ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU. It has fueled debate over the CDU’s adherence to the “Brandmauer,” an informal firewall by which Germany’s mainstream parties rule out formal cooperation with the AfD.

Local branches of the AfD and the CDU do not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.