On Thursday, November 20, the Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg opened to the quiet chimes of a nearby church bell, less than a year after a car-ramming attack killed six people and wounded hundreds.
Heavy concrete blocks painted in festive green and red lined the perimeter of the market—part of extensive new security measures introduced at Christmas markets across Germany.
According to Mayor of Magdeburg Simone Borris,
Many people think the site looks like a fortress. But I believe that those who have been looking forward to the Christmas markets will especially want to come now, because we don’t want to let our traditions be taken away from us–certainly not by the attack and what followed.
The rising costs and logistical challenges of securing such events in the aftermath of the 2024 terror attack have cast doubt on the future of some markets.
The suspect in that attack, 51-year-old Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, is now on trial in a temporary courthouse in Magdeburg, established to accommodate the hundreds of witnesses, victims, and relatives involved in the proceedings.
