Augsburg‘s Christmas market opened this week under heightened security, with โmovable bollards deployedโ to protect visitors-at a cost of 250,000 โeuros for the bollard rental alone. The city is budgetingโฃ an โขadditional mid-five-figure sum, approximately 50,000 euros, for personnel to operate the barriers.
The temporary security measure, implemented in response to evolving threat โฃassessments, โขrequires security personnel to physically โฃreposition the bollards โroughly 40 times per hour.City officials say the chosen system represents the most practical solution given โฃbudgetary constraints and logistical considerations, avoiding substantially higher costs associated with permanent, retractable bollards.
According to Augsburg Ordnungsreferent (Public Order Officer) Pintsch, the bollards are not new to city events, having been previouslyโ utilized at summer and folk festivals. He explained that retractableโ bollards would have necessitated extensiveโค excavation work and carried a price tag of around 5 million euros.
The city of โAugsburg provided a photo of the market, protectedโ by the โคmetal bollards, with a credit to the Stadt Augsburg (City of Augsburg).
