Several German artists have initiated projects to support refugees. The electro-hip hop band Deichkind showed up wearing a clear message during their performance at a German music award night last March. Since then, they've been selling the printed sweat suits through their online shop and donating the profits to the human rights organization Pro Asyl.

A music teacher launched a social media campaign against racism called "Aktion Arschloch" (which roughly translates as "Initiative Asshole"). This led a 22-year-old anti-Nazi song by German punk band Die Ärzte to climb to the top of the music charts. All profits from the bestselling single are also donated to Pro Asyl.

The German rock star Udo Lindenberg is organizing an intimate concert for 200 refugees in Bremen. Among the songs he'll be performing is a new one expressly written to welcome all refugees with this text: "Come on, let's be friends now, you're at home with us and no one will throw you out."

The German actor and director Til Schweiger established a foundation to help refugees. The Til Schweiger Foundation counts big names among its supporters, including the coach of Germany's national soccer team, Jogi Löw, the rapper Thomas D, and the actor Jan Josef Liefers. The foundation supports a reception center for refugees in Osnabrück, which offers German classes and other aid.

A solidarity concert was planned for early October in Berlin, but it had to be cancelled because it interfered with the German reunification celebration program. Top acts such as Die Fantastischen Vier, Sido, Andreas Bourani, Xavier Naidoo, Udo Lindenberg, and Peter Maffay were ready to perform for free for the cause. Lindenberg hopes that the concert will be rescheduled.

"Sport and music can make people's lives a bit more enjoyable," said the songwriter Heinz Rudolf Kunze in an interview with the newspaper "Neue Presse." He suggested music instruments should also be donated to refugees. "These troubled people need not only food and clothing, they also need something to do in their terrible situation."

The actress Katja Riemann told the newspaper "Welt am Sonntag" that she was planning a march with several organizations for refugees such as Amnesty International and Pro Asyl. "We need to reclaim the streets," she said. "We can't leave them to PEGIDA and neo-Nazis."

"The right to asylum is not negotiable, it is a human right," was recently declared in a statement by the campaign "Kein Bock auf Nazis" (Against Nazis), which is supported by 24 well-known musicians. Among them are Die Toten Hosen, Die Ärzte, Deichkind, Fettes Brot, Jan Delay, Tocotronic, Beatsteaks, and many more.