New Security Measures for Berlin Christmas Market Following Attack in 2016

The site of Berlin's devastating 2016 truck attach has now become a testing area for heavy security.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Nov 28, 2018

Two years after the deadly attack on a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 people dead officials are stepping up security and adding barricades to ensure the attendees of the country's festivities are safe this year.

Berlin police have installed 160 giant, square, lattice-work frames on the perimeter of Charlottenbury's Breitscheidplatz, the site of the fatal attack. Large sand and stone filled bags have been lowered into each frame, which have all been bolted to the next to form a long row. Narrow access pointes have been protected with extra bollards.

During the market, private guards will patrol the grounds, joined by a heavy presences of uniformed and plainclothes police officers. 

The Berlin State has said the elaborate $2.9 million installation will provide "unprecedented protection" against trucks weighing up to 40 tons.

Authorities believe this will become the blueprint of protection for future public events. The barriers are meant to be reusable and will become the property of the police after the market ends. 

"This year is quite different from the years before," Uwe Timm, CEO of working group AG City, told the dpa news agency on Thursday. "This time it was mainly about the question of how to combine the comfort of a visit with security. Despite increased security measures, the accessibility for visitors is guaranteed, for example via the surrounding multistory car parks, which are all accessible, or public transport."