Attack on the CSD memorial: The tree is standing again

Cyclists whiz past. The memorial tree on the edge of the Ahornsteig, which leads through the zoo, is hardly given a glance on this Monday afternoon. The narrow grid that surrounds the ginkgo is decorated with a rainbow flag and a stuffed bunny. The soil is compacted and there are a few flowers on the ground. Everything looks almost the same as before, just a little wetter and dingier due to the weather and the digging.

The Mitte district office reacted quickly on Sunday and replanted the tree. Unknown people had torn it and the protective grille out of the ground. Some of the memorabilia lying around it was also damaged and scattered around the area. The damage was discovered by a police patrol around 1:20 a.m. on Sunday night. The state security agency is investigating property damage, the police press office said.

It is already the second act of vandalism at the site in the Tiergarten, which is intended to commemorate the attack on the CSD. On the evening of July 25th, a suspected Islamist assassin drove a van into the zoo and hit or ran over people there. One woman was killed and more than 30 people were injured, some seriously. At the spot where the memorial tree stands today, the car crashed into a tree that then had to be felled.

A park bench in rainbow colors, which was also intended to commemorate the crime, was completely destroyed by unknown people at the beginning of September. Both bench and tree were arranged by the Mitte district office. They are intended to remind people that diversity, respect and a self-determined life are a given in Mitte and the entire city of Berlin. The bank should also be rebuilt. Again and again, more destruction would occur. “Our answer is clear: We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated,” said district mayor Stefanie Remlinger (Greens).

The attack on the CSD once again concerned the Interior Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday. Interior State Secretary Christian Hochgrebe (SPD) and Police Chief Barbara Slowik Meisel confirmed that the alleged perpetrator, Abdul B., was “highly prioritized” as an Islamist threat and was intensively monitored after his release from prison.

No application was made for an ankle bracelet because the requirements were not met. B. behaved in accordance with norms in the period before the attack. “He didn’t do anything wrong.” In order to prevent imitation acts at the CSD taking place in Hamburg a week later, ankle bracelets were then requested for other perpetrators in Berlin. Some of the applications were then approved by the courts.

A young pedestrian quickly approaches the memorial tree this Monday. When she arrived, she was happy. “He’s standing again.” The 24-year-old says she grew up with the CSD. Berlin always felt like a safe space for her. In Brandenburg she always saw the CSDs as more of a demonstration. And now also the vandalism – “that’s symbolism”.