Is the Weihnachtsmarkt dying out? Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, is the latest German city to cancel its Christmas market over security concerns. Last December, a Saudi psychiatrist and refugee named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen drove his car into crowds during the city’s festivities, killing six people. This year, there are fears that such an attack could be repeated and that the proper protections would not be in place.
The news came from Magdeburg’s mayor, Simone Borris, who announced earlier this week that the city would not be given a permit for this year’s event, after she received a letter from state officials warning that the market organisers had not done enough to ensure there were proper safety measures. Borris agreed that there was a risk of another attack but argued that neither the organisers nor the local authorities could be expected to prevent terrorism. “All experts agree that concrete counter-terrorism measures are a state responsibility,” she said, “for which the organiser of a Christmas market cannot be held accountable.”
Borris is right. There were certainly errors made at last year’s Magdeburg market—reports note that a vehicle that was supposed to serve as a “mobile barrier” was parked too far away, allowing Abdulmohsen to ram into the crowds. But that does not change the fact that there had been ample opportunities for the German state to stop this attack before it ever took shape. The Saudi government had previously warned Berlin that he was a security risk, and he appeared to have made violent threats publicly on social media. For whatever reason, none of these red flags were acted upon.
It should of course be the duty of the government, not of Christmas market organisers, to keep the German public safe. And yet it is the Christmas markets that must pay the price when the state fails to maintain law and order. This year, other markets have been forced to announce they will not be opening to the public. In Overath, North Rhine-Westphalia, organisers were unable to afford the high cost of various anti-terror measures, which the local government refused to contribute towards. Around 60 kilometres away in Kerpen, the situation is similar. Organisers there have also had to call off this year’s annual Christmas market due to spiralling security costs. Regulations mean that the entire square where the market normally takes place would have to be cordoned off—something that the small, member-funded association cannot afford. Event leaders have also complained that local government will not help to fund these security requirements. Instead, Kerpen will host a smaller, weekly artisan market to cut costs and comply with regulations.
News of these cancellations and rebrands has led some to wonder whether Christmas markets could be going extinct in their birthplace. To be clear, there are still roughly 2,500 of them going ahead this year—as many so-called fact checks have been quick to claim. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem with Germany’s Christmas markets. Visiting a market in a city or even medium-sized town this year, you’ll find that the experience is much different from ten years ago. Post-2016, security at these festive events has significantly ramped up. The sight of protective barriers, concrete blocks, and even armed police officers has sadly become normalised, and you can often feel more like cattle in a pen than guests at a cosy winter wonderland.
Under German law, all Christmas markets must now erect concrete and steel road barriers to prevent terror attacks. This measure was introduced in 2016, after an Islamist terror attack in Berlin killed 13 people. Anis Amri, a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia, deliberately drove a stolen truck into the crowd of market-goers, committing one of the deadliest terror attacks on German soil. Ever since, German Christmas markets have been on high alert—for good reason, too. As well as Abdulmohsen’s successful attack in Magdeburg last year, there have been a series of terror plots that were thankfully foiled. Just a few weeks before the attack in Berlin, a 12-year-old Iraqi boy had planned two attacks in Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate, going so far as to plant a crude explosive device near the city’s Christmas market. A year later, six Syrian asylum seekers were arrested for attempting to attack the Essen market. In 2023, the German authorities foiled two more schemes—one by an Iraqi man who was suspected of intending to terrorise a Christmas market in Hanover, Lower Saxony, and another by two teenage boys who were considering an attack on a market in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Then, last year, police arrested an Iraqi asylum seeker on suspicion of plotting an attack in Augsburg, Bavaria. And as early as this summer, a 14-year-old was detained for allegedly preparing an Islamist attack in Cologne later this year.
Just as the Christmas market is a popular German export, so now are the risks associated with them. In 2018, an Islamist killed five people and injured 11 more at a market in Strasbourg, France, armed with a knife and a revolver. A year later, Austrian authorities uncovered an IS-inspired plot involving several men, including a radicalised ex-prisoner, to carry out a series of attacks in Vienna, specifically including bombing a Christmas market.
It’s no surprise, then, that local governments and event organisers have become so concerned with safety. But the result is that a long-standing Western Christmas tradition is beginning to suffer. Terrorism may not be wiping out the Christmas market just yet, but it is certainly making it a more unpleasant experience for everyone.
It’s important to remember that this is not normal. Stalls selling mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and homemade decorations should be common sights in towns and cities across Europe in the next months—monstrous concrete anti-terror bollards and armed police officers should not be. The West is currently allowing terrorists—almost always of the Islamist variety—to hold us hostage and spoil a much-loved European, Christian tradition. It doesn’t have to be like this. Many of the successful or attempted attackers had previous criminal records or were otherwise known to the authorities. Many of them should never have been in Germany in the first place.
The fact that some Christmas markets are being forced to close this year is effectively an admission by the German government that it cannot be trusted to keep the public safe. Instead of fixing this very solvable problem, the state instead chooses to cede yet more cultural territory to violent extremists. Instead of defending everyday life, it decides to manage its gradual retreat. In doing so, it punishes ordinary Germans for its own cowardice and incompetence.
The Slow Death of the German Christmas Market
Visitors crowd a traditional Christmas market in Berlin, on December 24, 2024.
John MACDOUGALL / AFP
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Is the Weihnachtsmarkt dying out? Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, is the latest German city to cancel its Christmas market over security concerns. Last December, a Saudi psychiatrist and refugee named Taleb al-Abdulmohsen drove his car into crowds during the city’s festivities, killing six people. This year, there are fears that such an attack could be repeated and that the proper protections would not be in place.
The news came from Magdeburg’s mayor, Simone Borris, who announced earlier this week that the city would not be given a permit for this year’s event, after she received a letter from state officials warning that the market organisers had not done enough to ensure there were proper safety measures. Borris agreed that there was a risk of another attack but argued that neither the organisers nor the local authorities could be expected to prevent terrorism. “All experts agree that concrete counter-terrorism measures are a state responsibility,” she said, “for which the organiser of a Christmas market cannot be held accountable.”
Borris is right. There were certainly errors made at last year’s Magdeburg market—reports note that a vehicle that was supposed to serve as a “mobile barrier” was parked too far away, allowing Abdulmohsen to ram into the crowds. But that does not change the fact that there had been ample opportunities for the German state to stop this attack before it ever took shape. The Saudi government had previously warned Berlin that he was a security risk, and he appeared to have made violent threats publicly on social media. For whatever reason, none of these red flags were acted upon.
It should of course be the duty of the government, not of Christmas market organisers, to keep the German public safe. And yet it is the Christmas markets that must pay the price when the state fails to maintain law and order. This year, other markets have been forced to announce they will not be opening to the public. In Overath, North Rhine-Westphalia, organisers were unable to afford the high cost of various anti-terror measures, which the local government refused to contribute towards. Around 60 kilometres away in Kerpen, the situation is similar. Organisers there have also had to call off this year’s annual Christmas market due to spiralling security costs. Regulations mean that the entire square where the market normally takes place would have to be cordoned off—something that the small, member-funded association cannot afford. Event leaders have also complained that local government will not help to fund these security requirements. Instead, Kerpen will host a smaller, weekly artisan market to cut costs and comply with regulations.
News of these cancellations and rebrands has led some to wonder whether Christmas markets could be going extinct in their birthplace. To be clear, there are still roughly 2,500 of them going ahead this year—as many so-called fact checks have been quick to claim. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem with Germany’s Christmas markets. Visiting a market in a city or even medium-sized town this year, you’ll find that the experience is much different from ten years ago. Post-2016, security at these festive events has significantly ramped up. The sight of protective barriers, concrete blocks, and even armed police officers has sadly become normalised, and you can often feel more like cattle in a pen than guests at a cosy winter wonderland.
Under German law, all Christmas markets must now erect concrete and steel road barriers to prevent terror attacks. This measure was introduced in 2016, after an Islamist terror attack in Berlin killed 13 people. Anis Amri, a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia, deliberately drove a stolen truck into the crowd of market-goers, committing one of the deadliest terror attacks on German soil. Ever since, German Christmas markets have been on high alert—for good reason, too. As well as Abdulmohsen’s successful attack in Magdeburg last year, there have been a series of terror plots that were thankfully foiled. Just a few weeks before the attack in Berlin, a 12-year-old Iraqi boy had planned two attacks in Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate, going so far as to plant a crude explosive device near the city’s Christmas market. A year later, six Syrian asylum seekers were arrested for attempting to attack the Essen market. In 2023, the German authorities foiled two more schemes—one by an Iraqi man who was suspected of intending to terrorise a Christmas market in Hanover, Lower Saxony, and another by two teenage boys who were considering an attack on a market in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Then, last year, police arrested an Iraqi asylum seeker on suspicion of plotting an attack in Augsburg, Bavaria. And as early as this summer, a 14-year-old was detained for allegedly preparing an Islamist attack in Cologne later this year.
Just as the Christmas market is a popular German export, so now are the risks associated with them. In 2018, an Islamist killed five people and injured 11 more at a market in Strasbourg, France, armed with a knife and a revolver. A year later, Austrian authorities uncovered an IS-inspired plot involving several men, including a radicalised ex-prisoner, to carry out a series of attacks in Vienna, specifically including bombing a Christmas market.
It’s no surprise, then, that local governments and event organisers have become so concerned with safety. But the result is that a long-standing Western Christmas tradition is beginning to suffer. Terrorism may not be wiping out the Christmas market just yet, but it is certainly making it a more unpleasant experience for everyone.
It’s important to remember that this is not normal. Stalls selling mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and homemade decorations should be common sights in towns and cities across Europe in the next months—monstrous concrete anti-terror bollards and armed police officers should not be. The West is currently allowing terrorists—almost always of the Islamist variety—to hold us hostage and spoil a much-loved European, Christian tradition. It doesn’t have to be like this. Many of the successful or attempted attackers had previous criminal records or were otherwise known to the authorities. Many of them should never have been in Germany in the first place.
The fact that some Christmas markets are being forced to close this year is effectively an admission by the German government that it cannot be trusted to keep the public safe. Instead of fixing this very solvable problem, the state instead chooses to cede yet more cultural territory to violent extremists. Instead of defending everyday life, it decides to manage its gradual retreat. In doing so, it punishes ordinary Germans for its own cowardice and incompetence.
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