Gablestones or Stone Tablets or Giebelsteine (german) are decorative plaques at the facade of houses, usually depicting the profession of the inhabitant of the house or representing the nature of the business run in that particular house. These plaques also helped to identify the houses in a time where houses didn't have proper numbers yet. Plaques can be found dating back to 16th or 17th century.

The concept of gablestones was mainly used in the north-western part of Europe but of course elsewhere in Europe one can find examples as well.

The coat of arms for the various towns and villages and used to denote the subdirectories per town or village, have been taken from the site: International Civic Heraldry: http://www.ngw.nl/