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🇩🇪 German cities cancel Christmas markets as security costs soar following Islamist attacks Several German towns have canceled their traditional Christmas markets this year, citing the unaffordable costs of new security requirements imposed after a series of Islamist terrorist attacks. Organizers say they cannot meet the government’s anti-terror demands, including installing barriers, surveillance systems, and hiring additional guards, which have become mandatory for public events. In Overath, a town of 27,000 in North Rhine-Westphalia, all stalls will remain closed this year. The nearby city of Kerpen has also called off its annual market. Earlier, Bonn canceled its Kessenich Autumn Festival after city authorities rejected a proposed security plan meant to prevent vehicle attacks. The tightened regulations followed terrorist attacks on Christmas markets in Berlin in 2016 and Magdeburg in 2024, which together claimed 19 lives. In another attack last year, a Syrian national killed three people at a street festival in Solingen, less than 70 kilometers from both Overath and Kerpen. Germany hosts more than 2,000 Christmas markets each year. Some cancellations this season are unrelated to terrorism, stemming instead from low stallholder revenue or ongoing renovation works, such as in Dortmund.