"However, a guy came by in a car with his little girl and said the police station was open and he helped me clean up the glass and got me to follow him to the police station in my car."
Ms Werner said the police were helpful and an officer recovered her backpack in Manuka St that night.
"My passport was still in the bag, and my notebook with phone numbers and my flight details, which was lucky.
"I had my credit cards and my cellphone in my pockets and I had left another pouch with cards at the hostel, so I have been very lucky in some ways."
The young biologist has been travelling New Zealand and taking photos of plants and samples for her research so she is upset that her two cameras have not been recovered.
"And I know it sounds childish, but I also lost my teddy bear," Ms Werner said.
A white alpaca bear named Kea has been her travelling companion in New Zealand and she says that the toy's loss has been extremely upsetting.
"People who do these things don't realise the emotional harm they cause. I don't care about the cameras - I just want the SD cards back so I can have my photos."
Police put Ms Werner in touch with Cornelia and Steve Treloar, a local German-speaking couple who have helped her get her car repaired and offered her a meal and friendship.
"The policeman was very kind and told me he was sorry and he felt ashamed that this happened in Wanganui."
She would be grateful if anyone who found her cameras or teddy bear handed them in to the police.
Despite the theft, Ms Werner said she had enjoyed her time in New Zealand, though she was looking forward to returning home for a traditional German festive celebration, starting at lunchtime on Christmas Eve.
Whanganui Police spokeswoman Sara Stavropoulus confirmed that Ms Werner's call was put through to the crime reporting line after it was established that the situation was not an emergency.
"Because the caller was upset and English is not her first language, there may have been communication problems.
"She would have been advised that the Gonville police station was closed as that is the closest one to Castlecliff."
Mrs Stavropoulus said it was timely to remind people to not leave valuables in parked cars.