On 23 locations around Cologne you can read the words “Mai 1940 – 1000 Roma und Sinti”, May 1940 – 1000 Roma and Sinti, embedded in the pavement in brass. These small memorials mark the trail which altogether 1000 Roma and Sinti had to take from 16 May 1940 on, when they were marched from a prison and labour camp in Cologne Bickendorf to the train station in Deutz, from where they were transported to extermination camps.

These permanent memorials are based on an art event undertaken by German artist Gunter Demnig, who also designs and installs the well-known Stolpersteine. In 1990, he drew a line from the labour camp to the station, and the memorials today are all arranged along this line – for example located in front of the Cathedral, the NS-Documentation Centre and the Hohenzollern Bridge.