The violence, which comes as Germany prepares for snap elections in February, has left the nation in mourning and its sense of security deeply shaken.
A makeshift memorial for the victims of the Magdeburg Christmas market attack continued to grow on Monday as mourners added tributes and flowers near the scene of the car-ramming incident.
Mourners also laid flowers at the Johanniskirche, a church a short walk from the scene of the attack where at least five people, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed on Friday after a man drove a car into the busy market. Over 200 people were injured.
A carpet of flowers covered the broad sidewalk in front of the church and surrounding areas where people stopped to light candles.
The violence, which comes as Germany prepares for snap elections in February, has left the nation in mourning and its sense of security deeply shaken, while investigators remain uncertain about the motive of the suspect, a Saudi doctor who arrived in 2006.
Authorities have said the man does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks.
Identified as Taleb A., the man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam and in many posts on social media expressed support for the far-right, according to local officials.
Justice Minister Volker Wissing told local media the Magdeburg perpetrator had repeatedly attracted attention by threatening crimes.
“There were also warnings about him, but, according to what is known so far, his political statements were so confused that none of the security authorities’ patterns fitted him,” said Wissing.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the market area reopened, with some residents strolling among the stands despite concerns that the rampage might further deepen divisions in German society.
Some towns cancelled their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin, the capital, kept its markets open but increased the police presence.
Germany has suffered several extremist attacks in recent years, including a knife attack that killed three people and wounded eight at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August.
The Magdeburg Christmas Market attack comes eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others.
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