Students and staff gathered at the square between campus buildings on Thursday in remembrance of the 22-year-old student stabbed on Wednesday morning.
Flowers were laid on a table, while a number of people, including the university president Eva-Martha Eckkrahmer, and mayor of Trier, Wolfram Liebe, signed a book of condolences.
The ceremony lasted around half an hour, honouring the young man who succumbed to his wounds at the scene of the attack.
Eckkrahmner shared some emotional words with RTL:
"We are all deeply affected by this. We are a small university where everyone knows everyone. Staff know all the students, the students know each other very well [...] and this hits the mark, it hits very deeply. We are thinking of the family, his parents, friends, the student body. It just really hurts, and I think it's important we openly show empathy, and express it, like today with this gathering. [...] We all have to process this together."
On Thursday afternoon, the Trier public prosecutor's office released a statement with further details on the attack. The victim, a 22-year-old German student, was attacked on his way back from the shops on Robert-Schuman-Allee, where he collapsed.
The suspect, an Afghan national of the same age, was apprehended shortly afterwards. He has since been moved to a closed psychiatric unit. Initial investigations suggest the attacker and the victim were not known to each other.
Trier police has set up a meeting point at the scene to treat witnesses or others in need of psychological support.
Police spokesperson Marco Fleischmann said: "We did this until the evening yesterday, we will continue to do so today to give students or residents the possibility of talking to us. A lot of people are affected, they have a lot of questions. It is been well-received by the residents."
The university is also offering emotional support to those affected, with counselling services from next Monday. More information can be found on their website (in German).
