Overview
- Magdeburg confirmed the organizer will receive the permit by Wednesday, allowing the market to open on Thursday as scheduled.
- The city installed new bollards and invested about €250,000 in vehicle-access protection after the supervisory authority flagged serious deficiencies, including insufficient certified barriers up to 7.5 tonnes.
- The decision follows successive walk-throughs with the city, police and state authority, with plans for more security staff and strengthened access controls.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for nationwide, uniform Christmas market safety standards as the Federal Criminal Police Office reported no concrete, specific threats at present.
- Cities across Germany are tightening measures, with Göttingen investing roughly €400,000 in new barriers and street closures, Kassel deploying about 150 protective elements and rerouting trams, and Duisburg adding overnight CCTV, while a few events were canceled such as Overath for budget reasons.