BERLIN(National times)- Traditional Christmas markets are opening across Germany on Monday, drawing revelers to their wooden stands with mulled wine, grilled sausages, potato pancakes or caramelized apples. Security has been stepped up, with memories of two deadly attacks on Christmas markets still fresh for many Germans. In Berlin, the famous market at the city\u2019s Ged\u00e4chtniskirche church opened with a public service on Monday morning. Other openings included the Christmas markets at the Rotes Rathaus city hall, Gendarmenmarkt and Charlottenburg Palace. Vendors sell not only snacks and drinks but also handmade candles, wool hats, gloves and shiny Christmas stars in all colors and shapes. Children enjoy rides on chain carousels, Ferris wheels and skating on ice rinks. Christmas markets are an annual tradition that Germans have cherished since the Middle Ages \u2014 and successfully exported to much of the Western world. Security is an issue at all markets across the county. Last year, five women and a boy died, and many were injured in a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg on Dec. 20 that lasted just over a minute. The attacker is currently on trial in Magdeburg. On Dec. 19, 2016, an attacker plowed through a crowd of Christmas market-goers at Ged\u00e4chtniskirche church in Berlin with a truck, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more in the German capital. The Muslim militant was killed days later in a shootout in Italy. In the western city of Cologne, the Christmas market in front of the city\u2019s famous double-domed cathedral was packed with big crowds on Saturday. \u201cWe sense a very good atmosphere here, so we feel that in these difficult times we are currently experiencing, we can give visitors a little moment of respite here,\u201d said Birgit Grothues, the spokeswoman for the market. \u201cWe see many smiling faces under our illuminated tent.\u201d Nonetheless, she said that after last year\u2019s attack in Magdeburg, the city created a special security concept for its markets in close cooperation with police. It includes an additional anti-terrorism barrier and private security, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BERLIN(National times)- Traditional Christmas markets are opening across Germany on Monday, drawing revelers to their wooden stands with mulled wine, grilled sausages, potato pancakes or caramelized apples. Security has been stepped up, with memories of two deadly attacks on Christmas markets still fresh for many Germans. In Berlin, the famous market at the city\u2019s Ged\u00e4chtniskirche […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n