President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Germans to "defend democracy" on the 75th anniversary of the destruction
of Dresden in World War II on Thursday, as the emboldened far right rattles the political establishment.
The destruction of Dresden in 1945 is still deeply rooted in Germany's memory. Even 75 years later, the struggle for neutral interpretation remains, and Neo-Nazis want to turn guilt to innocence.
Germany said on Wednesday it had postponed a scheduled deportation flight of rejected Afghan asylum seekers after a Kabul truck bomb attack killed 80 and wounded hundreds.
The German embassy was massively damaged and workers were injured in a vehicle bomb attack in the Afghan capital on Wednesday morning that has killed at least 80 people.
Urban legend has it that Britain tried to completely destroy the tiny German Island of Heligoland in April 1947. The truth is less spectacular, but the explosion was nonetheless enormous.
Fans of St Pauli football club have caused shock by unfurling a banner which mocked the victims of the firebombing of Dresden during the Second World War.