Berlin & Brandenburg: Remembrance of terrorist attack on Christmas market still unclear

Monday 30th November 2020

Berlin (dpa / bb) – Almost four years after the Islamist terrorist attack on the Berlin Christmas market, it is not yet clear whether and how the annual commemoration can take place due to the corona pandemic. A Senate spokeswoman said on Monday about possible events on December 19. The showman association, which co-organized the memorial events in recent years, has also not yet made a decision.

The Christmas market at the Memorial Church, to which a Tunisian Islamist drove a truck four years ago, was banned because of the risk of infection. In recent years, politicians, mourners, bereaved families and relatives of the dead and injured had gathered to commemorate the church. Last year, the lights on the Christmas market were extinguished at 7:55 p.m. and at 8:02 p.m. – the time of the attack – the bells of the Memorial Church rang twelve times.

The assassin killed twelve people and injured many dozen on December 19, 2016. He was shot while fleeing in Italy. As of last year, around 4.3 million euros in financial aid were paid out to those affected and their survivors.