Truck used in Berlin attack 'could end up in museum'

A museum in Bonn is considering adding the truck used in the attack on a Berlin Christmas market in December to its collection of artefacts on the history of terrorism.

The House of History (Haus der Geschichte) in Bonn said it has yet to make a decision on whether to take the truck that was used in the 19 December attack, which killed 12 people.

"It is too early to give a final decision," said Hans Walter Hütter, president of the foundation for the Haus der Geschichte, in an interview with DPA on Wednesday (4 January).

He said that in order to come to the right decision, the foundation would need to allow some time to pass.

"Immediately after the act, it is always difficult for all relatives and those affected," Hütter said. "One must wait, with respect, for the right time. But then you must act as a museum person, who is responsible for passing down the material legacy of the past – and indeed always with the necessary sense proportion.

"If a theme is socially relevant – which this case is – then it belongs to our history, whether we want it to or not," he added.

Tunisian Anis Amri, a failed asylum seeker, is believed to be responsible for the attack. In a video released by Islamic State after he was shot dead by police in Milan on 22 December he pledged allegiance to the group.

The museum already has several exhibits from terror groups from German history, including the Red Army Faction, which was responsible for bombings and kidnappings in the 1970s, to the violent neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground terror cell. The museum also has parts of New York's Twin Towers – several of the al Qaeda hijackers having spent time in Hamburg before launching the attack.

He said the museum was currently exploring how it could include the history of Islamist terror in Germany in its collection.

"The whole truck is probably too big. It would be better to think of just a certain part," he said.