It was not immediately clear if a suspected bomb found at a Christmas market in Potsdam contained explosives or could have detonated, German authorities said today.
Police had cordoned off the Christmas market in Potsdam and the surrounding area and sent in special forces after being alerted about a suspicious object delivered to a pharmacy in the area.
Police had yet to determine, "whether it was an explosive substance," Brandenburg state interior minister Karl-Heinz Schroeter said, as well as "whether the device was actually capable of causing an explosion or not".
Police were alerted around 2.30pm (1.30pm Irish time) after a worker opened the package and saw suspicious wires and electronics inside.
"The suspicion of an improvised explosive device has been confirmed," police said on Twitter.
Germany is on high alert for potential terrorist attacks after last year's deadly attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.
Christmas markets opened across Germany this week at the start of the holiday season, fortified with security staff and concrete barriers to protect shoppers.
Germany has some 2,600 such markets.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said this week that Germany had increased information-sharing between state and federal officials and taken other steps to increase security, after a series of missteps on the Berlin case.
