Nowhere is that more visible than in Germany, where the tradition of the Christmas market is being quietly dismantled. In several towns and cities they will not go ahead as normal this year. These cancellations are not simply administrative matters. They are the visible consequences of a society that refuses to speak plainly about what threatens it. Islamist terror – or even the fear of it – now impacts the architecture of public life. The markets that survive do so behind “controlled zones”: fenced pockets of reassurance in cities that pretend the danger does not exist.

This is how cultures fade – not through sudden collapse, but through small, well-meaning surrenders. Each cancelled market, each renamed festival, each silence accepted for the sake of “safety” is another retreat from the public square. They need not strike again; the mere possibility has achieved their purpose. The attack in France on Sunday showed how fragile the ordinary has become. Germany’s response shows how easily fear can be mistaken for compassion.