Photo Gallery Bright Germany, Dark Germany
Germany is seeing an unprecedented increase in asylum applications this year and the newcomers are likely to fundamentally change the country. Here, people gather in front of a registration office in Berlin's Moabit district in late August.
There have been several divergent reactions to the sudden surge of asylum-seekers coming to Europe. Hungary opted to erect a border fence in order to keep people out, a move that has been heavily criticized.
Gaby Engelmann and Günther Schulze have both found fulfillment in doing all they can to help the asylum-seekers arriving in Germany. "I suddenly feel happy. I am becoming acquainted with other cultures, I have improved my English and I have many new friends," says Engelmann.
Many recent headlines have focused on the dark side of Germany's reaction to immigration, such as the riots in the eastern German town of Heidenau that focused on an asylum shelter in the community. Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the shelter last week as a sign of solidarity, and was met with boos my many locals.
Bnana Darwish is one of the millions of Syrians who have left their home country due to the civil war which continues to rage there. She is one of the best possible examples of how immigration can help Germany. She has received a scholarship to attend the University of Stuttgart, where she will begin studies in October.
Germany has been scrambling to find enough space to house all of the newcomers. This center in Deggendorf in Bavaria processes people who have arrived in Germany by crossing the nearby border to Austria.
The right-wing demonstrations in Heidenau on August 22 served to draw attention to the rapidly rising numbers of attacks on refugee hostels in Germany. Recently, there have been several such attacks per week, most of them arson.
Merkel has delivered several strong statements about anti-immigration violence in recent days, but her comments only came after weeks of silence on the issue.
When Merkel turned up in Heidenau to show solidarity with the refugees, she was met with both support and plenty of hatred. Here, onlookers shout abuse at her car as she arrives.
A woman in Heidenau holds up a sign branding Merkel a traitor to her people. In addition to such hatred, however, unprecedented numbers of Germans are doing what they can to help the newcomers feel welcome.
A building that was being outfitted to house asylum seekers went up in flames in Baden-Württemberg in late August. Such attacks awaken memories of the early 1990s, which saw several violent attacks on asylum-seekers in Germany.
