Police in Dortmund warned on Monday of increasing far-right radicalization after a spate of racist attacks across the west German city over the weekend.
Lutz Bachmann, founder of Pegida ("Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West") has been charged by state prosecutors in Dresden with incitement to racial hatred.
Europe's top human rights watchdog on Thursday voiced concern at mounting racism in Germany, citing a wave of far-right, anti-Islam demonstrations at odds with the more recent image of a country ready to open its doors to hundreds of thousands of refugees.
All 36 teams in Germany's top two leagues will wear "We're helping! #refugeeswelcome" logos on their shirts in this weekend's fixtures to encourage fans to help amidst Europe's immigration crisis.
Facebook announced on Monday it is undertaking steps to counter racist postings by users in Germany after the Justice Ministry criticized its lackadaisical attitude to hate speech.
Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) has become the target of widespread outrage after calling singer Roberto Blanco a "wonderful negro" on live television - and failing to apologize when challenged on Tuesday morning.
Germany's eastern states played host to almost half of the country's racist acts of violence last year, as well as a large proportion of right-wing extremist crimes – despite the fact that only a fifth of the population lives in these regions.
Public television journalist Anja Reschke sparked a massive online discussion on Wednesday evening with a heartfelt plea to ordinary people to speak out against those calling for violence and hatred against refugees.
Freital, the town that became famous last week for irate anti-refugee protestors outside a new home for asylum seekers, saw a fresh confrontation on Monday night as local people gathered for a town hall meeting.
"Seat reserved for Germans only": A provocative experiment on a bus in Essen has examined how members of the public react to racial discrimination. A worthwhile study of racism in German society or pointless confrontation?
Crime figures released by the Interior Ministry on Wednesday showed sharp rises in xenophobic crimes in 2014, with anti-Semitism and attacks on refugee homes causing particular alarm.
While the world watched with shock as a Jewish man encountered abuse on the streets of Paris for wearing a kippah, The Local talks to a Munich man who has been doing the same for two years - with surprising results.
"Blackfacing", used by Germans to describe white people painting their skin dark to mimic black people, has been named Anglicism of the Year by a jury of linguists.
The appearance of blacked-up charity collectors on national television on Tuesday revealed lingering racist undertones in German culture, an anti-racism group told The Local.
UPDATE: "There are still limits in the political battle of ideas", Justice Minister Heiko Mass said on Tuesday after a march by anti-Islam group Pegida in Dresden on Monday night.
A young woman who was so viciously beaten after she intervened in a fight that she fell into a coma is now brain-dead, doctors in Offenbach confirmed on Thursday.
German media were almost united this weekend in condemning demonstrations against refugee housing in the Berlin suburb of Marzahn-Hellersdorf - but can far-right sentiment ever really be overcome?
The biggest Muslim faith organizations in Germany will hold a nationwide demonstration for tolerance and peace and against all types of extremism on Friday.
