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Hanau (dpa / lhe) - The Brothers Grimm memorial on Hanau's market square will no longer be used as a memorial for the nine victims of the racially motivated attack.

As part of a brief memorial, the relatives of the dead removed pictures, candles and flower arrangements from the base of the memorial on Friday.

Lord Mayor Claus Kaminsky (SPD) also took part.

The bereaved should not be afraid that the attack and its victims might disappear from view when the memorial is cleared, said Kaminsky and promised that the victims “will remain anchored in the collective memory of Hanau's urban society for all time”.

On February 19, 2020, the 43-year-old German Tobias R. shot nine people with foreign roots in the city in the Rhine-Main area, before he presumably killed his mother and ultimately himself.

The act caused horror nationwide.

The Brothers Grimm Memorial, which after the deed had developed into a central memorial in the city, is to be renovated this year for its 125th anniversary.

A few days after the anniversary on which Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also came to Hanau, the relatives announced that they would vacate the memorial.

With this step they wanted to set an example together, the families had declared in a letter published by the city.

"This is certainly not easy for us, as it shows us how quickly time flies and how great the pain and sadness about our loss continues to be."

Nevertheless, it is the right step.

"Because we are sure: Hanau will not forget us!"

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At present, memorial plaques in Hanau remind of the victims of the attack at the crime scenes in the city center and in the Kesselstadt district as well as in the main cemetery in Hanau.

The city also launched a “digital memorial” with obituaries, videos, interviews with relatives of the victims and a condolence book.

A memorial is also planned.

To this end, the city had started a design competition for which more than 100 proposals from home and abroad had been submitted.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210319-99-892778 / 2