In the past three weeks, I've been to five German Christmas markets. Typically, it's a festive occasion....with Gluhwein, Christmas cookies, Stollen (the cake), and various fatty foods. The one thing that you tend to notice more than any previous Christmas in Germany.....security.
Yes, there are a significant number of cops working in pairs.....walking through the crowds. One will be armed with a light-assault rifle, and the other will have his service pistol. If you have a two-acre area to walk through....the odds are that at least two patrols will be on duty. In Frankfurt's Christmas Market, there's probably at least three patrols making the rounds.
For the most part, it's an act by the city council to reassure the public that they have 'security' on patrol and ready to act if some threat occurs.
I sat and paused over this type of 'reassurance'. Back in the 1970s/1980s/1990s....they had a patrol usually active (particularly after 8 PM)....but this was mostly to control drunks (which tended to mostly young men). No machine-guns or bullet-proof vests. Just a pistol and a billy-club. It was a different atmosphere and no one ever suggested much on threats other than some young punk being too drunk and throwing up on your shoes.
Today? Well...you just don't know. Most of the Markets now have a barrier system set up, which would prevent a vehicle from entering and running down locals in the street. You can't walk more than 10 minutes without noticing a patrol. In a way, it's become an acceptable part of life. The humble side of this story is that you could walk through four-hundred Christmas Markets in Germany, and other than pick-pockets.....you'd admit that no threat ever came to harm you. But those four-hundred Markets have at least two patrols walking and projecting security to the public. And that patrol is what is ready to take on some awful meddlesome and dangerous characters....in the name of public safety.
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