In the city of Magdeburg, which was shaken by the fatal incident, a memorial service will take place in the cathedral.
Germans have gathered in Magdeburg to mourn the victims of a car attack in the eastern city that killed at least five people and injured 200.
Authorities said a doctor drove into the busy outdoor Christmas market on Friday evening, killing four adults and a 9-year-old child and injuring 41 people so badly that the death toll could rise.
On Saturday at 7:04 p.m. (18:04 GMT), exactly the same time, church bells rang in the city the attack the evening before.
A memorial service took place in the city’s cathedral, which was primarily intended for the relatives of the victims as well as emergency services and invited guests, including Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Those who were not allowed to attend the service gathered outside the church to watch it on a large screen.
Several hundred people also gathered in the city’s central square, some laying flowers and lighting candles.
Among the crowds were people carrying banners with right-wing extremist slogans.
The violence has shocked the German city of about 240,000 people 130 km (80 miles) west of Berlin.
This led to several other places in Germany canceling their weekend Christmas markets as a precautionary measure and in solidarity with the loss of Magdeburg.
Berlin kept its many markets open but increased police presence there.
The investigation into the motive is ongoing
The suspect is a 50-year-old immigrant from Saudi Arabia who described himself as an activist critical of Islam and turned himself in to the police at the scene.
The suspect is being investigated for five cases of suspected murder and 205 cases of suspected attempted murder, prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said at a press conference.
Investigators are examining whether the attack may have been motivated by the doctor’s dissatisfaction with the way Germany deals with Saudi refugees, Nopens said.
Police have not publicly named the suspect, but several German news agencies identified him as Taleb A and reported that he is a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Posts on the suspect’s X account, reviewed by Reuters news agency, suggested he supported anti-Islam and far-right parties, including Alternative for Germany.
A Saudi source told the agency that Saudi Arabia warned German authorities about the suspect after he posted “extremist” views on his X account that threatened peace and security.
A risk assessment carried out last year by the state and federal criminal police came to the conclusion that the man posed “no specific danger,” the newspaper “Welt” reported, citing security circles.
There have been numerous attacks in Germany in recent years, including a knife attack that killed three people and injured eight at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August.
Friday’s attack also came eight years after a man drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many more. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
