Cologne, Germany - Skin colour is not an issue in Germany any more, according to the latest winner of model Heidi Klum's popular television casting show.

Sara Nuru, whose parents were born in Ethiopia, was crowned "Germany's Next Top Model" in the final on Thursday evening.

The 19-year-old Munich student claimed the title after beating off 21,000 applicants during the show's three-month run.

Sara's parents arrived in Germany in 1986 and initially settled in Gruenbach, a village of 500 in the southern state of Bavaria.

"The people there are quite conservative and we were the first black family to settle there," she told the German Press Agency dpa on Friday. "But they immediately took us into their hearts."

Sara said that she herself had never experienced racial discrimination and felt "100 per cent German."

"I was born here and Germany is my country. I hope other girls see it that way and realize it makes absolutely no difference where you come from or what your religion is."

Performance and personality are what counts, she said.

Sara said here parents were over the moon at her triumph. "My father has four daughters and always wanted one of them to be successful," she said.

Her photograph will soon grace the cover of Germany's Cosmopolitan magazine. But Sara said she was not waiting for job offers. She planned to complete her schooling first. (dpa)