German President Joachim Gauck said the country had so far weathered Europe's financial crisis but called on people to show more tolerance in everyday life, according to a copy of his Christmas message released Monday.
"Germany has coped well with the crisis so far," he said in his first Christmas speech as head of state, which he is due to deliver in a televised address Tuesday evening.
Gauck said compared with other Europeans, most Germans had been enjoying "economically good, even very good" times.
Radical parties had not so far benefited from the sense of uncertainty felt by part of German society, said the former pastor, who took over the largely ceremonially post of German president in March.
"(People) had grown unsettled in the face of a life that has become faster, more incomprehensible and unstable," said Gauck.
However, referring to a string violent incidents in the country's big cities, he said: "We are gravely concerned about violence - at railway stations and on the street, where people are attacked because they have black hair or dark skin."
"Given all this, we need not only active politicians, but also engaged citizens."
Germany should offer asylum with an "open heart" to those persecuted in other countries, said Gauck, though he added that it would never be able to take in all those who wanted to come.
Christmas, he said, is not just a time for Christians to pause for reflection.
"For Muslims, Jews, people of other faiths and atheists it is also a time to stop and pause and to celebrate with family and friends," he said.
Following his visit last week to Afghanistan, Gauck praised the work of German troops in the country in both tackling terrorism and assisting the local population to emerge from years of war.
He said the trip had reminded him how important 60 years of peace had been to Europe. "Only too rightly did the European Union receive (this year's) Nobel Peace Prize," Gauck said.