Berlin schoolchildren develop media on the history of persecuted musicians in Berlin during the Nazi era

In September 2024, the Berlin State Music Council launched the “Musical Stumbling Stones” project. In the project, pupils reconstruct the life stories of musicians persecuted during the Nazi era. They translate their biographies into media formats and experience the broadcasting of their features on RBB Radio 3 and via the berlinHistory app. Each month, a podcast portrait of a different composer and musician is produced at a Berlin school, starting with Hans Heller, Ursula Mamlok and Arno Nadel in 2024.

The aim of the project is to raise pupils’ awareness of the fates of the persecuted. By engaging with their biographies through the media, they learn about new music and take a critical look at National Socialism.

The patron of the project is the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner.

The Musical Stumbling Stones are sponsored by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and the Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Foundation.

The project is also supported by numerous cooperation partners: musica reanimata e.V., Vincentino e.V., Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung, Stolpersteine zum Sprechen bringen, Global Goals Berlin, Berliner Landeszentrale für politische Bildung.

Further information: www.landesmusikrat-berlin.de/projekte/musikalische-stolpersteine.