One year after the rampage in Trier, there was the first large memorial service for the victims. Sadness and sadness are still great: a city empathizes.
Trier – Life stands still in the center of Trier. Passers-by pause in silence while the cathedral bell rings. Candles are burning – and hundreds of people stand reverently together in the cathedral.
Exactly a year ago to the minute, at 1:46 p.m., a gunman raced through the pedestrian zone. Four minutes later the city was different: five people died, dozen were injured, hundreds were traumatized. It is the victims who will be commemorated on Wednesday at the first major memorial service for the Death Voyage.
The processing of the fact takes time
Many of them sit in the pews of the cathedral on the anniversary. In addition, relatives, survivors and rescue workers who were on duty. The Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) is also there. “Back then, the city was hit in the marrow. And also the whole country, ”said Dreyer, who is at home in Trier. You can feel that again on the anniversary. “If you remember the pictures, it’s just shocking to this day.”
In the cathedral, the Bishop of Trier spoke to people from their souls. The rampage remains an “incomprehensible act” with many unanswered questions, he said in front of almost 400 visitors. She “suddenly tore Trier out of everyday life” and “changed the view of life as a whole” for those affected. One thing is certain: “The processing of what has happened is only just beginning,” said the bishop.
On December 1, 2020, the gunman raced almost a kilometer through the pedestrian zone in his off-road vehicle and hit people in a targeted manner. In the act, a nine-week-old baby, his father (45) and three women aged 25, 52 and 73 died. In October, a 77-year-old man who was seriously injured in the act died. It still has to be clarified whether the injuries suffered were the cause of death.
Remembering the victims – never forgetting
“We are here today because we cannot forget,” said the Vice President of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, Christoph Pistorius, in his sermon. And: “Because we don’t want to forget. We want to remember the victims ”. You grieve together, share “the incomprehension and horror, the anger and powerlessness”. But despair and hatred shouldn’t determine the rest of your life, he said. One wants to “encourage one another, comfort one another”.
A 52-year-old has been standing before the Trier district court as a suspected perpetrator since mid-August. The public prosecutor’s office accuses the German of fivefold murder and attempted murder in 18 other cases. So far, he has not wanted to comment in the process. According to a preliminary assessment of a psychiatric expert, the man who was last unemployed and homeless is suffering from a psychosis.
The anniversary was “a difficult day” for those affected, said the victim commissioner for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Detlef Placzek. “Regardless of whether you are present or sitting at home.” It is important to make it clear: “That you are not alone and that you may be able to comfort each other a little in the community.” Many are at the service and also in the evening at a concert (Requiem) in the Constantine Basilica.
For Petra Lieser, who lost her daughter Katja Lieser (25) in the rampage, Wednesday is “one of many terrible days”. Actually every day was “black” last year. After the service, she wanted to venture to the spot where her daughter was killed for the first time in a year.
The deed haunts many people in Trier to this day. At a memorial plaque that was unveiled on Friday near the Porta Nigra, people put candles. “I was in town with my daughter on the day of the rampage. It could have hit me too, ”said a woman. And another who has a shop near the main market: “I still have the pictures in my head. Everything comes up again. “
You can feel that “the grief is really very, very big,” said Dreyer after the service. “I want to give people the fact that they will not be forgotten. That we are with you. ”The Mayor of Trier Wolfram Leibe (SPD) said that in future“ a place of remembrance ”will be created every year. “I promised the families that.”
The act also affects the police. “Some colleagues are still being accompanied or are still receiving therapeutic treatment,” said Police President Friedel Durben. “However, we don’t see ourselves as victims.” Of course, everyone who was on duty or in investigations would have the terrible images in their heads.
Remembering is important, said a woman in front of the cathedral on the square where the Christmas market was closed until the afternoon due to the memorial event. “But life goes on.” Dpa
