Authorities in Berlin have detained a teenage Syrian refugee after a man was stabbed near the city’s Holocaust Memorial late Friday – as divisive rhetoric swells over Germany’s immigration policy, ahead of a consequential national election.

Detectives launched a large-scale manhunt across Berlin on Friday after a stabbing at the city's Holocaust memorial, two days before the country’s national elections.Three hours after the incident, officers sweeping through streets near the scene came upon an unidentified man whose hands were covered in blood,

The man arrested after a Spanish tourist was stabbed at Berlin's Holocaust memorial on Friday was a 19-year-old Syrian refugee, Berlin prosecutors said, a day before a national election in which concerns over migration are expected to boost the far-right AfD party.