France, Nov. 29 -- The Condor Legionunit of the German air force devastated the northern Basque town on 26 April 1937 in support of General Francisco Franco's rebels during the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War.

Steinmeier attended a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of the victims with Spanish King Felipe VI on the third and final day of his state visit to Spain. The two men then visited the town's Museum of Peace, which tells the story of the tragedy, and met two survivors of the attack.

"Guernica is one of those places where the horrors of war and the vulnerability of innocent people have been indelibly etched into our European memory," Steinmeier told reporters after the ceremony.

The president said the "brutal crime" offered a "warning t...