Neo-Nazis succeed in holding rally

Arrests as Neo-Nazis Hold Rallies

In Germany, thousands of police had been mobilised to stop extremists from holding secret rallies to commemorate the death of Hess.

In Wiesbaden, around 80 people were detained, with police seizing knives, music cassettes and placards with extremist slogans.

In neighbouring Denmark, around 120 neo-Nazis from Scandinavia and Germany succeeded in holding a rally.

Rally switched at last minute to avoid clashes

Shouting "Seig Heil" and waving swastika flags, they switched their rally at the last moment to the sleepy town of Koege, west of Copenhagen, to avoid clashing with anti-Nazi protestors gathered at the original site in nearby Roskilde.

Rudolf Hess is something of an icon to neo-Nazi groups. Each year, right-wing extremists stage rallies to mark his death, keeping the locations secret until the very last moment.

He committed suicide by hanging himself with an electric cord in Berlin's Spandau prison on August 17th, 1987. But right-wing extremists maintain that he was murdered. He had been in custody since 1941 when he parachuted into Scotland on a mission to try to negotiate an Anglo-German alliance against Russia.

German police estimate that there are about 6,500 right-wing militants in the country. Neo-Nazis have been responsible for many highly publicised attacks on the Jewish community and foreign workers. Latterly, their support has declined. The police have launched several successful operations, rounding up ringleaders and diminishing their influence.