Security is stepped up round Christmas celebrations in Germany and Austria over assault issues
FRANKFURT, Germany — Sightseeing visits had been barred at Germany’s landmark cathedral in Cologne and Christmas Eve worshippers confronted safety checks to get into midnight Mass there Sunday as police responded to indications of a possible assault.
However a high safety official urged individuals to not shrink back from vacation celebrations out of worry.
Churchgoers attended a number of providers on the cathedral regardless of the ban on visits purely for sightseeing, a day after police descended on the cathedral and searched it with sniffer canines. With a number of dozen officers on obligation outdoors, Auxiliary Bishop Rolf Steinhaeuser greeted these attending what he stated was “probably the most secure church service in all of Germany.”
In Austria, police stated additionally they had been stepping up safety round Vienna’s church buildings and Christmas markets, apparently responding to the identical intelligence a few potential risk. They didn’t give additional info, however the dpa information company reported with out citing a supply that the risk was from an Islamic extremist group.
Police in Cologne stated they had been taking precautions over Christmas regardless that the data they’d was for an assault on New Year’s Eve.
“Even if the reference was to New Year’s Eve, there are a lot of people in the area around the cathedral, today is Christmas Eve midnight Mass, it is one of the most visited cathedrals, the main train station is nearby,” police spokesman Wolfgang Baldes stated whereas standing in entrance of the cathedral.
“There are a lot of people, and that’s why we said that if there was an indication, we would do everything necessary to protect people,” Baldes added.
Cathedral Provost Guido Assmann stated in an interview on the Cologne Archdiocese web site domradio.de that halting sightseeing visits didn’t characterize a giant change since such visits are usually not allowed throughout providers anyway, and providers had been scheduled all through the day Sunday.
Cologne’s towering cathedral, whose twin spires rise 515 ft excessive, is a significant vacationer vacation spot visited by some 6 million individuals a yr. It is house to the Shrine of the Three Kings, a gold- and silver-decorated casket stated to comprise the relics of the three clever males described within the New Testament as paying homage to the new child Jesus.
Police and cathedral officers urged churchgoers planning to attend Mass on Sunday night time to reach early and never carry luggage or purses.
At the identical time, Herbert Reul, inside minister for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, appealed to the general public to not keep away.
“Caution is advised,” he stated, however “we are not defenseless. Our agencies are using all available information to protect us as well as possible.”
“My appeal is, go to church, celebrate Christmas. Fear is the currency of terrorists. We should not make it more valuable,” Reul stated.
The European Union’s house affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, warned Dec. 5 that Europe faces a “huge risk of terrorist attacks” over the Christmas holidays as a result of fallout from the struggle between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
