Berlin has previously repeatedly rejected Athens' claims arguing that it had already righted the wrong with the 1960 payment of 115 million German marks to Athens.
In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Saturday President Gauck voiced his understanding for Athens' calls for compensation, saying that Germany should examine its historical responsibility to Greece.
"We are not only people who are living in this day and age but we're also the descendants of those who left behind a trail of destruction in Europe during World War Two — in Greece, among other places, where we shamefully knew little about it for so long," the president said.
"It's the right thing to do for a history-conscious country like ours to consider what possibilities there might be for reparations," he added.
The presidency in Germany is a largely ceremonial post, but its holders are highly respected as elder statesmen.
In Athens, meanwhile, Deputy Defense Minister Costas Isychos, hailed Mr. Gauck’s statement as “an example of European political culture, which could heal the wounds of the past.”
