Multiple German Christmas markets have been cancelled this year amid concerns over Islamist terror attacks and the rising cost of providing security to attendees.
Merrymakers in the town of Overath in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia will have to look elsewhere for their mulled wine, bratwurst, and roasted nuts this year after organisers announced this week that its annual Christmas market will be cancelled.
In an effective admission that previous terror attacks had succeeded in their aim, the organisers said that they could not afford to enact the necessary security measures to prevent another attack, including hiring additional security officers and cordoning off the market to prevent car attacks.
Although they attempted to secure additional funding from the local city government, such efforts fell flat, the local Rheinische Post reported.
Additionally, the Christmas market in Kerpen has also been cancelled, according to the Kölner City Gazette.
“We were informed that we would have to cordon off Stiftsplatz from all sides. At the same time, we are not receiving any financial support from the city and have to manage everything ourselves,” explained organiser René Hövel, per Die Welt.
Christmas markets have not been the only celebrations to face cancellations, with the Kessenich Autumn Festival in Bonn stating that it had to shut down due to being “unable to implement a viable security concept that meets current requirements.”
Organiser said: “An autumn market without protective measures against potential dangers, such as uncontrolled vehicles, is not an option for us.”
The growing need for security measures at Christmas markets in Germany comes in the wake of multiple deadly Islamist terror attacks on innocent festival goers.
The first major attack was in 2016 at the Christmas market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. Failed Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri intentionally drove a truck into the crowd of pedestrians at the market, leaving 12 people dead and dozens injured. Amri was killed days later in a police shootout in Milan.
Last year, a Saudi Arabian pro-asylum activist, who himself was granted asylum in Germany, drove a car at high speeds at merrymakers at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six people and leaving 323 others injured.
This came just months after another asylum seeker, from Syria, went on a stabbing spree at a “diversity festival” in Solingen, killing three and injuring eight others.
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