Stolperstein unveiling: Frankfurt remembers Ernst Meissinger and his family

Stolperstein unveiling: Frankfurt remembers Ernst Meissinger and his family

On June 29, 2025 at 2:40 p.m. a stumbling block for Ernst Meissinger and his family will be unveiled in Frankfurt-Heddernheim. The ceremony takes place directly in front of Meissinger's last residence at Hadrianstrasse 5. Meissinger was an important German alpinist with Jewish roots who was persecuted under the National Socialist dictatorship. His mother Rosa and his siblings Hans, Lili and Marlies are also honored at this memorial event, as they were disenfranchised, persecuted and sometimes murdered or forced into exile. Journal Frankfurt reports that the initiative to erect the stumbling block came from the Frankfurt section of the German Alpine Association (DAV).

Ursula Rüssmann, a member of the “Search for Traces of National Socialism” section team, highlights that of the over 70 biographies that have been documented since 2019, Meissinger is the only one whose exclusion from the club because of his Jewish origins was recorded in writing in 1935. This happened because of the so-called “Aryan Paragraph”. Two of Meissinger's nephews will travel from the USA to attend the unveiling, and Frank Schumann, a board member of the DAV, will also address those present. The Stolperstein revelations are open to anyone interested.

A living culture of remembrance

A total of almost 2,000 stumbling blocks have been laid in Frankfurt to commemorate the victims of National Socialism. These small, ten by ten centimeter brass plates were developed by Gunter Demnig and are embedded in the pavement. Each stone contains the names and biographical information of the persecuted people and provides a dark insight into their history. Hessenschau shows that the stumbling blocks are anchored in the neighborhood, bringing remembrance directly back to the streets where people last lived.

The initiative to relocate these memorials began in Frankfurt in 2003 and is currently being looked after by the “Initiative Stolpersteine ​​Frankfurt”, which takes care of their maintenance. Volunteers like Maureen van Meerendonk clean the stones regularly, and there is the idea that more citizens, especially school classes, get actively involved. The commitment to these memorabilia in Hesse is not only visible in Frankfurt, but also in other cities such as Darmstadt and Wiesbaden. Although there are over 70,000 stumbling blocks worldwide, the discussion about their form and the appropriate way to deal with the culture of remembrance remains intense. Deutschlandfunk is discussed the different opinions on the stumbling blocks, whose effect and meaning can vary greatly.

Criticism and approval

As already mentioned, there are also critical voices regarding the stumbling blocks. Some see them as an insufficient engagement with history, while others welcome the memory initiatives and the associated identification with the victims. The desire of many relatives to be informed before a stumbling block is erected illustrates the need for respect for the memory. Dealing with the National Socialist past remains an ongoing task, and school classes in particular play a role in keeping the victims' stories alive.

The upcoming unveiling of the stumbling block for Ernst Meissinger is not only an honor for him and his family, but also an expression of the commitment of the Frankfurt section of the DAV to actively deal with the dark chapters of the club's history and to keep the culture of remembrance alive.