In an interview given to the German Press Agency (dpa), published in full by two independent online newspapers on Tuesday, Julia Klöckner, the deputy federal chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called on Germans to show more understanding for the anti-Islamization PEGIDA movement.

She argued that freedom of opinion must allow for unpopular or non-mainstream opinions - controversially even seeming to suggest it could include things such as public demonstrations of the Hitler salute.

"I, of course, do not like anybody who performs the Hitler salute in public, or is the head of any PEGIDA demonstration," Klöckner said. "However, the right to the free expression of one's opinion, even if the contents of that opinion aren't approved of, is fundamental for our free society.

Klöckner was referring specifically to the founder of the PEGIDA movement, Lutz Bachmann, who stepped down last week after pictures surfaced of him imitating Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. In the pictures, which Bachmann said had been taken as a joke, he was not performing any Hitler salute.

Bachmann stepped down a day after the Hitler pictures were circulated in German media

The statement met with immediate criticism from politicians in her federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, with the state's Green party head saying he was "downright astonished" that Klöckner appeared unaware that the freedom of opinion "in no way covers public performance of the Hitler salute."

In Germany, the Hitler salute is prohibited by law because it is a "living symbol of a nonconstitutional organization," namely Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party. Anybody who raises his or her right arm in imitation of the gesture within Germany's borders can be charged with sedition.

In response to the criticism, CDU Rhineland-Palatinate state parliamentary group spokesman Olaf Quandt defended his colleague's statements, saying her words had been "ripped out of context."

Quandt called the criticism "vicious," and added that it was "absolutely clear that the Hitler salute is in no way protected by the freedom of opinion. To say that Ms. Klöckner believes anything else is absurd."

An assortment of German media outlets were also quick to pounce on the story on Tuesday, with Zeit Online, Spiegel Online and Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung Online all running it on their front pages.

Against burqa, for Hitler salute?

This is not the first time Klöckner has caused waves in Rhineland-Palatinate with contentious statements. She is a vehement proponent of banning the burqa or niqab (full Islamic veil for women) in Germany, something France has done.

With regard to Islam and the ongoing debate within her party as to how the religion should be received in Germany, she told Spiegel magazine last week: "There are interpretations in Islam that have severe problems when it comes to gender equality, and that place Sharia law on the same level as our legal system - or above it. This kind of Islam has no automatic place in Germany."

In a campaign speech ahead of state elections later this year, Roger Lewentz, the state minister for interior affairs, sport and infrastructure, said the following of Klöckner: "She is (trouble) in high heels."

Klöckner has been active in Merkel's CDU for almost 20 years. On the federal level, she has been part of the CDU steering committee since 2010. In 2012, she was named Merkel's federal deputy, elected by senior party delegates almost unanimously.