According to the poll, 56 percent of the Germans polled on January 8-11 are now afraid of walking alone in the evening, while in October 2014, only 41 mentioned this fear when asked what they were mostly scared of.
Fear of foreign-looking groups of people has also increased in Germany from 36 percent to 56 percent, the poll revealed.
About 53 percent of German respondents also mentioned that in some neighborhoods they preferred not to leave their apartments because they "cannot even rely on the police here," YouGov found.
Following the New Year's Eve incidents, police reports stated that the authorities had failed to respond to the assaults and violence. In Cologne, the police chief was put on early retirement, as reports about his force's incompetence emerged.
