Stolpersteine and a Walk Back

It's difficult to imagine what life was like years ago.  

In towns that we've visited, we've come across Stolpersteine.  It translates as "stumbling stones" because when you least expect it, you just might stumble over one.  They're small, golden squares embedded into cobblestones or concrete that commemorate victims of the Holocaust.  When you find one, you'll read the name of a person or of a family, and learn of their fate.  They're placed in front of the buildings in which the victim or victims lived.  Sometimes you will find one, look up, and see a building standing there, a building like any other.  It doesn't cry out of the pain and confusion its occupants felt when they were deported.  Without the Stolperstein, you would have walked by without taking a moment to stop and reflect.

Even more unsettling is when you find a Stolperstein and no building exists.  In Wiener Neustadt, we came across one and when we looked up, there was a parking garage.  No amount of squinting could bring the home of the victims into focus.  But, we paused and then moved on.  I guess that's the point of Stolpersteine.  

What all of this is introducing is a walk down Steingasse.  Steingasse runs parallel to a major road on the eastern side of Salzburg's old city.  We got off the bus, and in one minute, we were walking down this street.  And, it was eerily quiet.  We encountered very few people, and for a little while, it felt like we stepped back in time.  The buildings towered overhead and I could imagine people opening their windows to shake out a rug or to say hallo to a neighbor across the street.  

It's usually so hard to imagine what the world used to look like in days gone by, but on this street, somehow, I could.

             

The Inner Stone Gate from 1634.

 

Then, we came upon this building and plaque.  "'Silent Night, Holy Night' Joseph Mohr was born in this house on December 11, 1792.  The words that he wrote in 1818 are sung today by people all over the world."

We didn't find any Stolpersteine on Steingasse, but wandering a bit farther, we found a couple.

Steingasse links to Kapuzinerberg, and I'll write about our little jaunt there soon.

We ended our outing by crossing the bridge to the Alt Stadt and I finally took pictures of the memorial of the bridge that we cross nearly every day.