BERLIN (AP) – German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel were visiting shelters for asylum-seekers Wednesday to express support following an outburst of anti-foreigner violence over the weekend.
Gauck went to a reception center for asylum-seekers in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, where he praised students, doctors and others who had volunteered to help refugees there and elsewhere across the country.
“They want to help, they want to show that there’s a bright Germany full of light, as opposed to the impression we get of a dark Germany when we hear about attacks on asylum seekers,” Gauck said.
Merkel planned to meet with refugees, aid workers and local officials at a shelter in Heidenau, near Dresden, that had been at the center of neo-Nazi riots.
Dozens of police were injured when a far-right mob hurled bottles and fireworks at officers in an attempt to prevent asylum seekers from moving into the former hardware store at the weekend.