German police have sealed off a major shopping centre in the central city of Essen, citing the threat of a terror attack.

In a statement, local police said they have concrete information regarding a possible attack and the shopping centre will be closed all Saturday. Though there was no announcement of arms or explosives being found, police said two men had been picked up for questioning.

The country is on high alert following scenes of carnage at a Christmas market in Berlin in December, when an IS terrorist rammed a truck into a crowd of pedestrians, killing 12 people.