1of14The names of the nine victims of the Hanau shooting are painted on a building in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb.18, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. Hanau will commemorate the victims on Friday.Michael Probst/APShow MoreShow Less2of14The building with the kiosk where five people were killed is seen before sunrise in the Kesselstadt district in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb.18, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. Hanau will commemorate the victims on Friday.Michael Probst/APShow MoreShow Less
3of144of14Pictures of the victims of the Hanau shooting are fixed in front of a Shisha bar at Heumarkt in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb.18, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. Hanau will commemorate the victims on Friday.Michael Probst/APShow MoreShow Less5of14The pictures of the nine victims of the Hanau shooting are fixed at the door of a building in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb.18, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. Hanau will commemorate the victims on Friday.Michael Probst/APShow MoreShow Less
6of147of14A graffiti under a bridge shows the nine victims of the Hanau shooting, in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Feb.17, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. Hanau will commemorate the victims on Friday. Letters read "racism kills".Michael Probst/APShow MoreShow Less8of14A graffiti under a bridge shows the nine victims of the Hanau shooting, in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, Feb.17, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. Hanau will commemorate the victims on Friday.Michael Probst/APShow MoreShow Less
9of1410of14A sign "Stop Corona" on the market place appeals to the citizens and reminds them of the mask duty in this area in Hanau, Germany, Friday, Jan.8, 2021. (Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa via AP)Frank Rumpenhorst/APShow MoreShow Less11of14The names of the nine victims of the Hanau shooting are fixed at the door of a building in Hanau, Germany, Thursday, Feb.18, 2021. One year ago a far right man shot nine people before he shot himself. Hanau will commemorate the victims on Friday.Michael Probst/APShow MoreShow Less
12of1413of14A police cordon observe a demonstration in memory on the first anniversary of the Hanau attack in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday Feb. 18, 2021. The demonstration under the banner "Initiative 19 February", marks the first anniversary of the Feb. 19, 2020 Hanau shootings when ten people were killed in a terror shooting spree by a far-right extremist in Hanau. (Andreas Arnold/dpa via AP)Andreas Arnold/APShow MoreShow Less
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BERLIN (AP) — Top officials, religious leaders and soccer stars are commemorating the victims of a racist attack in the German town of Hanau, one year after the gunman shot dead nine people with immigrant backgrounds before killing his mother and then himself.
The rampage in Hanau, near Frankfurt, caused widespread shock in Germany and beyond. Anti-racism campaigners called for a crackdown on hate speech of the kind espoused by the attacker, Tobias Rathjen, who left behind a paranoid rant filled with conspiracy tropes and vitriol against migrants.
The head of Germany's Protestant church, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, called Friday for vigilance when it comes to overt and hidden racism.
“We have almost forgotten again what happened back then,” he said in a video message. “But the relatives of the victims are suffering to this day.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was due to make a speech at a memorial event in Hanau in the evening expressing solidarity with the victims and their loved ones.
Relatives have insisted that the names of the victims be made public, a rare practice in privacy-conscious Germany.
