Radical views or behaviors. - Steinmeier goes to Keupstraße in Cologne, two decades after the incident.
Twenty years have passed since the infamous National Socialist Underground (NSU) carried out an attack in the Kölner Keupstraße. On Sunday, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to the incident at the "Birlikte - Zusammenstehen" event. During his visit, he chatted with barbers Hasan and Özcan Yildirim, whose salon had a nail bomb placed outside on June 9, 2004. The explosion injured 22 people, some of them severely. The Turkish community was investigated by the police for years after the attack. It wasn't until seven years later that the right-wing terrorists Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt were unmasked as the culprits.
During the commemorative event in Keupstraße, which is known for its Turkish restaurants and shops, security measures were taken. The event was delayed for more than an hour due to a bomb-sniffing dog's alarm at a hydrant. Subsequently, the area was cordoned off, but nothing was found during the search. The event was attended by North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister, Hendrik Wüst (CDU), Cologne's Mayor, Henriette Reker (non-partisan), and Germany's Federal Health Minister, Karl Lauterbach (SPD), whose constituency is in the area.
The NSU murdered ten individuals anonymously in Germany since 2000. The victims included nine Turkish and Greek-origin business owners and a policewoman. Along with Mundlos and Böhnhardt, Beate Zschäpe, who received lifetime imprisonment in 2018 by the Munich Higher Regional Court, was also involved in the crimes. Mundlos, Böhnhardt, and Zschäpe were the members of this right-wing terrorist group.
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The Police implemented strict security measures for the commemoration event, given the historical context of the NSU's extremism. Steering his bicycle through the streets of Cologne, Steinmeier was reminded of the fixed dates of such dark incidents in Germany's history. The nail bomb attack, a chilling reminder of the NSU's terror, had taken place near a popular Turkish salon on a Sunday. The barbers, Hasan and Özcan Yildirim, were still reeling from the incident, even two decades later. Germany's Federal Health Minister, Karl Lauterbach, also attended the event, showing solidarity with the affected community.
