“Every day, new distressing reports arrive from across the Republic,” emphasizes the news portal of the Bild newspaper, listing the canceled events.
In the town of Lage (population 35,000) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the traditional spring fair has been canceled due to the inability to ensure adequate security measures. Similarly, the Cherry Blossom Festival, scheduled for April in Marburg (Hesse), will not take place. According to city authorities, the reason is the “abstract threat of terrorism.”
The popular Boelschefest in Berlin-Friedrichshagen, held in May, has also been canceled. While concrete barriers could have been used to secure the streets, space had to be left for trams to pass through. This, according to the report, would have created a security loophole.
In Berlin-Frohnau, the volunteer fire brigade is likely to cancel the traditional Easter bonfire due to fears of potential attacks, the portal reports. It also highlights that Berlin is the first federal state planning to introduce its own security regulations for large-scale events.
“Even the first flea markets are being canceled,” the portal notes. In Rheinfelden (Baden), municipal antique fairs will no longer be held. In the idyllic town of Schongau (Bavaria), the flea market scheduled for April 5 has been called off. “I cannot take responsibility if a madman were to drive into people with his car,” said organizer Günter Fiebig in an interview with Bild.
The same trend is observed in the northern regions of Germany: the Walpurgis Night celebrations (April 30) in Dallgow-Döberitz (Brandenburg) and the Blooming Wismar festival (April 12) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have been canceled. The Pfingstochsenfest in Elmshorn (Schleswig-Holstein) has also been called off, according to the portal.
Bild draws attention to the fact that, following the terrorist attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg (where a Saudi Arabian citizen carried out an attack that resulted in six deaths and hundreds of injuries) and the attack in Munich (where an Afghan national drove into demonstrators, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother and injuring at least 39 others), stricter security measures have been implemented. “The additional costs amount to five- or six-digit sums—too much for most event organizers and municipalities,” writes Bild.
“However, the security of public events should no longer be a matter of financial constraints,”
the German newspaper notes.
“Germany has just taken on debt amounting to hundreds of billions, partly for strengthening civil protection. Additional funds could be allocated to better safeguard markets, Easter bonfires, and flea markets. Otherwise, our country will also lose its cultural traditions.”