""All of us went into this Christmas market with a funny feeling because we weren't sure how it would be to suddenly reopen here after the events of last year," said Stage."
""First of all, you are shocked and depressed," he said, "and, at some point, you start talking to one another about what happened.""
""People who say: "I was standing there as a first-aider and was standing there and there that evening." Those very people are returning here because the Old Market Square is the city's living room. We don't want to let this be taken away from us by some kind of crazy perpetrator," said Stage."
Police officers and security guards, some armed, patrol the entrances to Magdeburg's Christmas market, which is ringed by concrete blocks, sand sacks and steel barriers. A vehicle attack on December 20, 2024, killed six people and wounded more than 300, with motives still unclear. Stallholder Mirko Stage, stationed about 20 meters from the main killing site, hesitated before reopening but experienced unexpectedly positive interactions. Visitors and vendors have begun to open up, share experiences and process grief at memorial stones with candles and flowers. Many return to assert that the Old Market Square must remain the city's communal gathering place.
Read at www.dw.com
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