A pink angel is painted on the stone on a blue background. The angel is smiling and spreading its arms. A red heart illuminates from its dress and a golden halo hovers over the angel’s equally golden hair. When Parilti turned the stone over, she noticed that there were instructions painted on the back. ‘#Rheinsteine, finden, beidseitig posten und neu auslegen’ (Find the #Rhine stones, post both sides and put them back out) it says on the back. Parilti took photos of both sides of the round stone and uploaded the pictures to the Facebook group. In her post she also noted where she had found the stone. “I found it today in Oberkassel,” she wrote and added a few happy smileys. “I put the stone straight in my pocket and took it with me to Wiesbaden,” explains Parilti. The next day she left the angel on a wooden bench on a Spielstraße – a street which is designated for children to play in.

Now there is a good chance that passers-by will also find the colourful stones in Bonn, as Kirsten Ihrde-Schnarr is well aware: “There are already more than 10,000 stones in circulation,” the administrator of the Rheinsteine Group estimates. 13 months ago, Ihrde-Schnarr launched the campaign and the associated Facebook group. “I got the idea for laying out painted stones from my home state of Schleswig-Holstein, where it has been around for quite some time,” says the woman from Düsseldorf. “I would like to give people here on the Rhine this pleasure too”.

The principle is simple: “We collect stones, paint and seal them and then put them down somewhere else to give the finder a moment of joy in discovering them,” explains Ihrde-Schnarr. And the initiative has gone down well. “The Facebook group already has over 6000 members. On average, 60 pictures are posted every day,” says Ihrde-Schnarr. And the stones must be moving quickly because the colourful motifs are now appearing all along the river Rhine. The Rheinsteine have also managed to cross national borders. “The stones have already made it to Paris and Portugal,” says Ihrde-Schnarr. The stones are mainly found by children. “But seniors are also pleased to discover them. Many are inspired by the idea and join our group. Some then also start painting the stones.” During the corona crisis, whole families have been painting the stones together.

The motifs are varied and cover everything from comic figures to animals and miniature landscapes. But the artist from Düsseldorf never dreamed that the Rhine Stones would be such a great success. “The group has already grown quickly,” Ihrde-Schnarr recollects. She is not pursuing any particular goal. “I am just pleased that the group is here and I want it to continue harmoniously and for as many people as possible to enjoy the stones,” says Ihrde-Schnarr. The group can be found on Facebook under #Rheinsteine.

(Original text: Niklas Schröder, Translation: Caroline Kusch)