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An air of sadness hangs over much of the country which is still coming to terms with the lorry attack on a Christmas market which left 12 dead and dozens more injured. Security remains tight across Germany after the Berlin terror attack with heavily armed police carrying out high-profile patrols at holiday events and attractions. The fairground video was posted by a news site and has attracted despairing views on Facebook.

WDR A police marksman guards a toddlers' merry-go-round at a German market

What happened to our home country? No one would have imagined this 30 years ago Jurgen Ventura

One viewer, Jurgen Ventura, spoke of his nation’s concerns, highlighted by the armed officer standing guard at a toddlers’ merry-go-round at a market in the town of Moers near Duisburg in northern Germany. He said: “What happened to our home country? No one would have imagined this 30 years ago. "Thanks Mrs Merkel and all the followers.”

WDR Armed police on patrol in Germany

The melancholic mood was echoed by Dagmar Kroh who said her children had told her that had decided not to have youngsters of their own because they did not want to bring another life into such an unhappy world. Mrs Kroh said: “Now I know why my children don't want to have children. “Sad, I can still remember when my daughter went on a ride on such a merry-go-round. Her brothers back then were six and 11 and were standing next to me. “That I and my husband will not have any grandchildren is sad but absolutely understandable. Children, I now understand where you're coming from, even though I would have really liked to be a granny.”

WDR Germany is still trying to come to terms with the Berlin terror attack

Preparations for New Year’s Eve also seem muted in Germany which was scarred by the events of a year ago when mobs of migrant men from North Africa and Iraq went on the rampage and carried out hundreds of indiscriminate sexual assaults in women in Cologne and elsewhere. More than 900 attacks were recorded by police in the first few days of 2016 - a year which has seen a growing backlash agains Angela Merkel’s open-door migrant policy which has see more than 1.1 million people flood into Germany since the autumn of 2015. Cologne police chief Jürgen Mathies said he was deploying more than 1,500 officers this year - almost 10 times the number on duty last New Year’s Eve.

GETTY Police in Cologne are hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's lawlessness on New Year's Eve

Cologne: Sex Attacks and Robberies Tue, January 12, 2016 Thirty-one suspects, including 18 asylum seekers, are under investigation over offences including sexual assault and theft in Cologne on New Year's Eve. Far right protestors in Lepzig have rallied against refugees and German chancellor Angela Merkel. Play slideshow Reuters•Getty 1 of 22 Protestors in Lepzig rally after over 100 women were sexually assualted on New Year's Eve