On Saturday afternoon in Magdeburg a man stood outside Johanniskirche (St John’s church), contemplating a lake of candles, flowers and soft toys. Then he loudly voiced his disbelief. “And then they say he supported the AfD. As if. You just can’t believe the media any more.”

People had gathered here to mourn. The photo of a dead nine-year-old boy was being shown around. Used rescue blankets piled up at the roadside as police guarded the now empty market.

St John’s, the oldest church in the city, now deconsecrated, has a special place in the hearts of Magdeburgers. We, even as atheists, mark important family events there: it is where I had my formal, secular, coming of age ceremony – just like many others in this part of eastern Germany do. But after Friday night, this place, just metres away from the scene of the attack, carries a new scar.

That evening, a man drove an SUV into the nearby Christmas market, killing five people and injuring 200.

Magdeburg is, naturally, still in shock. The Christmas market was a popular meeting place in a city that lost its historical core in the second world war and got rebuilt as a rather airy, wide-open space. The angry man at St John’s church echoed how its people struggle to make sense of this violence – and especially of what has become known about the attacker since.

Once the suspect’s nationality became public, representatives of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland wasted no time. While Magdeburg’s mayor, Simone Borris, could not hold back tears during a Friday night press statement, the AfD declared that an attack........

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