The chancellor also spoke of a ressitume of anti-semitic crimes and other hate crimes committed in Germany in recent years, claiming that they had reached an “alarming level”.
“To combat anti-semitism, the history of the extermination camps must be shared, it must be said “, she said.
His trip, which comes at the approach of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by soviet troops on 27 January, is considered an important political message.
On the eve of her visit, Ms. Merkel, 65, said that “the fight against anti-semitism and against all forms of hatred” was a priority for his government.
It has also welcomed a new donation of 60 million euros (66 million dollars) to the Foundation Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was approved by the federal States German on Thursday.
Ms. Merkel began her visit by walking under the slogan ” nazi “Arbeit macht frei” (work will set you free) that hangs always above the gates of the camp.
She has also held a minute of silence near the Wall of Death where thousands of prisoners were shot and have visited the site of a gas chamber and a crematorium.
This visit “is a signal particularly important attention and solidarity at a time when the survivors of Auschwitz were the victims of antisemitic slurs and hateful e-mails,” said Christoph Heubner, vice-president of the international Auschwitz Committee.
Josef Schuster, head of the central Council of Jews in Germany, and Ronald Lauder, president of the world jewish Congress, also participated in the visit.
In total, 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, including Jews, Polish non-jews, soviet prisoners of war, Roma and combatants anti-nazis.
Many were killed on the same day of their arrival at the camp.
“There is no other place in memory that demonstrates with such precision, what happened during the Holocaust,” said Schuster to the AFP before the visit.
Mrs Merkel follows in the footsteps of former chancellors of German Helmut Schmidt, who arrived in 1977, and Helmut Kohl, who visited the site in 1989 and 1995.
She has already visited several of the old camps in Germany for many years and has travelled five times to the Holocaust memorial centre Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
In 2008, she became the first leader German to address the israeli parliament. In this speech, she spoke of the “shame” that the Germans are still feeling.
Ms. Merkel called the Holocaust “rupture with civilization,” and expressed concern about the rise of anti-semitism in Germany.
His visit comes two months after an attack on a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle, in which two people were killed – in the context of a growing trend.
Police figures show that breaches of anti-semitic, have increased by nearly 10 percent in Germany last year compared to the previous year, to reach 1 646, the highest level in ten years.
The German far-right party AfD, some of whose members have been accused of using anti-semitic rhetoric, has called for a rethink of how Germany remembers its nazi past.
Bjoern Hoecke, a legislator from the main AfD, has called for a “change of 180 degrees” in the culture of the atonement.
The timing of the visit is also important because of the issues on the political future of angela Merkel as tensions persist within the ruling coalition.
The German media have also reported that they wanted to make the trip before any political crisis potential.
Ms Merkel intends to resign at the end of his term in 2021, but there is a chance that the date can be advanced if its coalition partners junior, the social democrats, withdrew from the government.
AP contributed to this report