Hundreds gather in German city to commemorate slain politician

Several hundred people participated in a vigil in the German city of Wolfhagen on Saturday to commemorate a local politician who was shot dead earlier this month in what investigators say was an act of right-wing extremism.

"The market square was full," Gernot Gerlach, a church official, told dpa.

Walter Luebcke, a local politician who had supported Merkel's immigration policy, was fatally shot at his home overnight to June 2. A suspect - a 45-year-old named only as Stephan E - has been held in detention.

The vigil also included a speech by Wolfhagen mayor Reinhard Schaake. Gerlach lit three candles to honour those who resist acts of right-wing extremism.

The death of the local politician, who was found shot dead in his home, evokes painful memories in a country with a history of violent terrorist attacks by the left and right.

Notable examples are the murders and attacks committed by the leftist Red Army Faction (best known outside Germany as the Baader-Meinhof group) starting from the 1970s as well as by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground (NSU) in the early 2000s.