I'm not trying to defend what is going on "over there", but you have to realize that Germany is, in many respects, still not one country and will remain so for a very long time.
Whenever you hear people speak of German unification, keep the following in mind: While we were incredibly lucky that there was no bloodshed, the people of East Germany were completely screwed in the process. More than twenty years after the beginning, it is misleading to speak of unification.
What happened was an annexation.
Every part of East German society was uprooted, down to the most minuscule. Massive labor migration to the west completely changed demographics, with many young women leaving but fewer young men doing so.
Wherever you have conditions such as these in any European country, Skinheads and the like will start appearing. As if it was some perverse rule of nature.
Maybe we're screwed. Maybe it is an emergent trait of European culture. I hope it isn't.
Simply growing up with almost no non-whites makes everyone who looks different stand out a lot, and the step from standing out to shunned out is quite small, I'm afraid.
I have a lot of (brown) Asian family relatives who've spent decades in Germany, they tell me America is basically a heaven in comparison. Canada is pretty much the only country that comes close to America (according to them -- and my experiences ring true here as well), in not being racist to non-white individuals.
And getting the visa was amazingly easy too. Got it within a week, but go with a native speaker.
Very multi-kulti here but you still have to be watchful.
If you are traveling in eastern Germany while black you will get quite strong harassment and in many towns you would be unwise to travel at night by yourself.
source: black people told me so
But statistically speaking its still safer than many US cities. And as a Nigerian born, Moscow raised guy told me, Moscow is way more racist.
… by a group of Turkish youths