Italian television was almost the only network there to film the altar lying on the ground in Breitscheidplatz to commemorate the victims of the attack in Berlin on Monday. It is a carpet of candles, in the midst of which stands only an Israeli flag.
The candles are red and white, in a pattern that, although somber, integrates and blends with the Christmas decorations; the market has already restarted. The same market where only days ago the truck carrying the attacker — and the already almost forgotten Polish driver — rushed into the crowd.
The altar is already undermined at 10 a.m. by the smell of the grill on which the sausages will soon be sizzling. Television crews ask their questions and talk about the seriousness of the moment and about the composed dignity of the Germans.
There is also a Danish broadcaster, and above all of us stands a silver frame with the words “Concept Shopping.” A few meters away there is a large red Christmas ornament, the kind that should be hanging from a tree, but on a human scale. Inside there is a father with his son in a stroller being photographed by the mother. Across the street, small groups of people emerge from the Bikini Berlin bearing packages.