The star told an audience of 7,500 people at a concert in the city on Sunday: "We cannot play the music without thinking of why we are here tonight."

Sir Elton is touring Europe to promote his last album, Songs From The West Coast.

He is to donate the proceeds from ticket sales for the Erfurt concert to a local fund helping care for people affected by the shooting.

Sir Elton performed in Buckingham Palace for the Jubilee

On 26 April Robert Steinhauser, a 19-year-old who had been expelled from school the previous autumn, killed 13 teachers, two students and a police officer in a 20-minute shooting spree.

The rampage at Erfurt's Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium ended when Steinhauser turned the gun on himself.

Sir Elton said he was "moved and so upset" when he heard of the shooting.

He told the audience at Erfurt: "We were thinking maybe we shouldn't come to Erfurt to play because it would be in bad taste."

'Justice'

"This is our tribute to those people.

"We're very proud to be here and we hope we can do justice by playing our very best," he added to cheers.

His group played for two and a half hours at the concert.

The killings shocked Germany, and led to moves to tighten the country's gun laws.

Last week the German parliament approved a bill to outlaw pump-action shotguns.

The minimum age for legal possession of a firearm for recreational use is also to be increased, from 18 to 21.