Angela Merkel visited a Nazi concentration camp, garnering protest.

Merke, the German chancellor, visited the former Nazi concentration camp at Dachau.

Merkel was there to warn of right-wing extremism, but critics say the visit is inappropriate, particularly during a re-election campaign. Others have lauded her for facing the past.

Dachau officials said that "Mrs. Merkel's visit sends a strong signal, reflecting the estimation for the survivors and the work of the memorial site," the site director, Gabriele Hammermann said.

93-year-old survivor Max Mannheimer and Gabriele Hammermann both praised Merkel.

"The chancellor is making good for the necessary attention that her predecessors neglected in the past."

Merkel is the first German chancellor who has ever visited the site. Before her visit, she said, "I know that this will not be an easy visit.

"The visit would be conducted with a sense of "shame and dismay," she added.

During the visit, she gave a short speech, toured the museum, met with a group of survivors, and laid a mourning wreath.

Following the event, there will be an election rally in a beer tent-and many have called this inappropriate or even "tasteless".

"If you are serious about the commemoration at such a site of horror, you surely do not make such a visit during an election campaign," Renate Kuenast, of Germany's Greens party, commented.

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