Germany Mourns School Massacre
Tens of thousands of mourners packed the city's main square Friday to commemorate victims of one of the world's worst school shootings, huddling silently at the flower-covered steps to an ancient cathedral as Germany's president read out the names of the 16 people who died.
A week after 19-year-old Robert Steinhaeuser gunned down 13 teachers, two students and a policeman at an Erfurt school that had expelled him, the solemn ceremony brought together Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and other leading politicians, school pupils from the entire region, teachers, police officers and many ordinary citizens.
Schroeder, many members of his cabinet and opposition leaders sat through light rain in the medieval town square in the eastern German city of Erfurt, where a teenager went on a school killing spree last Friday.
"A whole week has gone by, but the horror has not left us," President Johannes Rau said at the start of his address before listing the 16 people murdered at Gutenberg High School.
The event, including a minute's silence, began at the same time Robert Steinhaeuser, a 19-year-old failed student, went to his former school and shot dead 13 teachers, two students, a police officer and himself.
"We live together, but don't know one another," said Rau, urging people to take responsibility for the nation's children.
A classmate of the killer also spoke, paying particular tribute to her murdered teachers.
One of the songs in the ecumenical service was the hymn "In urgent need, I cry out to you."
The school's 750 pupils attended the service which took place amid tight security.
Police said the Steinhaeuser family was not present for the memorial which was broadcast live on German national television. However, during a mass at the end, there was a prayer for the family as well as one urging politicians not to exploit the tragedy.
On Thursday, in their first public statement since the massacre, Steinhaeuser's father Guenter, mother Christel and older brother Peter said in an open letter they had never seen the hate that led him to kill teachers and school mates.
"Since this terrible day, we are asking ourselves more and more where Robert's hate and despair came from and why we did not see it," the letter said. "Before this brutal act of madness we were a very ordinary family and knew a different Robert. The sorrow, despair and helplessness in our family are boundless."
The massacre has triggered a national debate about television and video game violence after suggestions they may have had an influence on Steinhaeuser. Schroeder met top broadcasting officials on Thursday evening to discuss television violence and agreed to hold further talks on video and Internet content.
According to a poll published on Friday by dimap institute, 81 percent of Germans favored a ban on violent video games. On Monday, Schroeder will meet the premiers of Germany's 16 federal states to discuss the possibility of tightening gun control laws.
The same day the justice ministry will meet 50 pupils from eight Berlin schools to hear their views on what might have been behind the Erfurt attack and what solutions they recommend.