Several thousand counter-protesters have taken to the streets in Berlin to demonstrate against an annual neo-Nazi rally honouring a deputy of Adolf Hitler.
More than 600 neo-Nazi participants marched through the city's Friedrichshain district on Saturday for a rally on the anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess, a leading figure in the Nazi party during World War II.
They were met by a far greater number of counter-protesters, some of whom threw stones and bottles at neo-Nazi participants, who made their way through the district.
Counter-protesters had also attempted to block the march by staging a sit-in in its path, but police broke up the blockade by carrying protesters away.
By early evening, the demonstration had disbanded.
A police spokesman said several counter-protesters had been arrested after hurling rocks and bottles, but declined to give further details.
"Our colleagues protect every demonstration from disruption, no matter the topic. This is enshrined in the constitutional right of assembly," police said on Twitter.
A total of 500 people had confirmed their attendance in neo-Nazi demonstrations scheduled for two different locations, but only about 50 were present at the march's main starting point in Berlin's Spandau district.
The event's organisers then shifted their focus to a second planned march in Friedrichshain, an area known for its nightlife and alternative scene.
Police also shifted their operations to Friedrichshain, with a total of about 2300 police officers deployed across the city, police said.
Earlier on Saturday, several hundred counter-demonstrators also gathered in Spandau to protest the first march.
"I hope everything remains calm, but we might see aggressive and violent behaviour from some protesters," a police spokesman at the scene told German news agency DPA.
"However, we are prepared to deal with anything," he said.
Police had built makeshift checkpoints to check the neo-Nazi demonstrators for contraband, arms and tattoos with forbidden symbols.
"I don't want my grandchild to be born in a second World War II scenario," a protester said. "I want him to live in a multi-cultural society where there is no hatred for any community."
Another counter-protester, a local NGO worker, said she was there to protest "the brazen endorsement of Nazi ideology by some people who gather here every year".
Spandau housed a former prison where Hess was held while serving a life sentence after World War II. He committed suicide in the prison in 1987.
Australian Associated Press
