In front of the entrance to the botanical garden in Burghausen, visitors will find a large commemorative plaque for the Galitzenstein family. In the botanical garden itself there are five stumbling blocks that commemorate the fate of the family during National Socialist rule in Germany.
dr Eugen Galitzenstein was the son of a Jewish lawyer. When he married Auguste Grün he converted to the Protestant faith. The Galitzenstein couple lived from 1923 to 1939 in the official villa of the Wacker company in Burghausen, which was located in what is now the botanical garden. dr During this time, Eugen Galitzenstein was chief chemist at Wacker Chemie.
After Hitler came to power, the Galitzensteins, who had three children, faced anti-Semitic attacks. In 1939 the couple was able to emigrate to England under degrading conditions and losing their property. The children Charlotte, Irene and Walter had already fled to France, England and the USA in 1933 and 1936 respectively.
In 2012, the German artist Gunter Demnig laid five commemorative stumbling blocks for the Galitzenstein family in the botanical garden in front of the floor plan of the Villa Galitzenstein. The small brass plates each bear the names of the family members. They are intended to commemorate the victims of National Socialism who lived and worked in Burghausen.
Since 1996, Gunter Demnig has laid more than 75.000 stumbling blocks in 24 European countries.