Struiklestenen Hiking and Biking Trail

Stumbling Stones, or Stolpersteine as they are officially known, are an international
art project by the German artist Gunter Demnig. Through his foundation
, he creates, supplies, and installs Stumbling Stones throughout Europe. A Stumbling Stone
is a small, personal memorial for victims of the Nazi regime during World War II: Jews, political prisoners,
members of the resistance, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, ...
A Stumbling Stone is a concrete memorial stone measuring 10x10 cm.
On top is a brass plaque bearing the name, date of birth,
date of deportation, and place and date of death or liberation. You can
only see the brass plaque in the sidewalk.
Each Stumbling Stone names the victim and tells, in a few words,
his or her story and how this person became a victim. The stones
are not located centrally in a square or a cemetery, as with other
monuments, but in the sidewalk in front of the victims’ (last) place of residence
. They appear here and there throughout the city, showing that these
victims, so to speak, simply lived right around the corner from us.
Stumbling stones are thus part of our city’s memorial policy. They are silent witnesses that remind us of what
far-reaching intolerance and polarization can lead to.
The installation of Stumbling Stones is part of what is undoubtedly the largest
decentralized artwork in the world. Gunter Demnig designed the first stone
in 1995, and now there are more than 110,000 of them, spread across 31 countries throughout Europe

📏 5.5 km
🕑 1 hr 16 min
⭐ easy
📍 Stationstraat
🏁 Brugse Steenweg