Kiosks that mimic gingerbread cookies with candy surfaces have already been installed. The wreaths, the hangers, the public address system… everything was already ready so that Magdeburg could reopen its Christmas market on the first Sunday of Advent, but … The city’s mayor, Simon Burris, announced the cancellation on Tuesday and explained the unfortunate reasons for the decision. You did not sign the statement because the security concept was presented It does not guarantee 100% protection for citizens and professionals. The background is a letter from the State Administration Office to the Magdeburg City Council, in which this concept was criticized, a year after the devastating attack in which six people were killed and several hundred others injured, in December 2024.
The letter criticizes the protection of access points and the number of police officers planned for the operation. “It’s as if they canceled Christmas,” said Celine, an employee at a central hotel in the city, after hearing the news.
The organizing company considers the criticisms to be false and claims that it cannot afford “high” security measures such as those proposed in the document, which it sees as an excuse for the authorities to restore health in the event of any unforeseen event. “Nowadays, the public office is gambling, that much is clear. If anything happens, they will take responsibility and try to avoid it. but It is impossible to guarantee security absolutelySources from the company explained that it is ready to integrate many additions to the security concept, but it rejects some measures that are “impossible to take.”
The shock from the announcement was so great that the regional president of Saxony-Anhalt, Rainer Haseloff, held an impromptu meeting on Wednesday to study whether the Advent market could be saved with federal aid.
The market in Magdeburg is not the only market that is not planned to take place this year in Germany, as it is a tradition. One has been installed in several cities, but security requirements have led to the cancellation of many small Advent markets, such as the one in Oviratin North Rhine-Westphalia, around the church of St. Walburga, or Kerpenwhich will not be able to open kiosks already installed on Stiftsplatz.
The announcement of the cancellation in Magdeburg coincidentally coincides with the start of the trial of Talib Al-Abdul Mohsen, the Saudi refugee who on December 20 hit uninterested pedestrians with a rented BMW. The Magdeburg Regional Court needed a new 4,700 square meter prefabricated room with a capacity of 700 people to house the process.
The accused, defiant
The defendant arrived by helicopter, shackled at the ankles, and was transferred to a bulletproof glass box, under the protection of armed and masked judicial officers. Not only did he show no remorse during the arraignment conducted by prosecutor Matthias Butcher, while the victims’ relatives were barely able to hold back their tears, but he showed a wide smile and a difficult pose.
He had a laptop with him which he held up to the press and the words “#MagdeburgGate” and “September 2026” could be read on it. He apparently wanted to refer to the upcoming regional elections in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, which will take place on September 6, 2026 and which, according to opinion polls, is the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In a letter sent by the defendant last March, he bragged that he wanted to kill all Germans except his lawyer and several acquaintances.
It is very likely that the court will end up imposing the maximum sentence, Life penaltyAt the end of this trial, which will last at least fifty sessions. But the effects of this attack go further than that. The possibility that the market will not open its doors this year has created a feeling of defeat in the face of this type of terrorism that is burdening the environment.
“These are attacks that are impossible to avoid.. Anyone can rent a car and launch it at pedestrians on the street. Anyone can take a knife from the kitchen and stab the first person they meet on the bus or subway. “The security forces cannot prevent this, and we simply lost to them,” says Bernice, a teacher who retired two years ago, in a conversation with ABC. “Even if the Advent market is finally opened, because I believe that in the end reason will win and not fear, let’s realize that it will not be the same anymore. We will not drink mulled wine with the same carelessness and confidence as always, and in that sense, yes, we have lost a battle,” adds Kurt, who recently arrived in the city. To attend the trial.
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