Neo-Nazis arrested at Hess march

Thousands of neo-Nazis turned out for the march

German police have arrested 110 people at a march to commemorate the death of Adolf Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess.

Some 74 of those detained belonged to a Neo-Nazi movement and were held for displaying banned Nazi symbols and carrying weapons, police said.

About 500 people, including the local mayor, held a counter-demonstration against the march in Wunsiedel, the border town where Hess is buried.

Hess died in 1987 aged 93 after more than four decades as a prisoner.

Annual event

At least 3,000 right-wing extremists from Germany and abroad turned out for the march.

Anti-Nazi protesters, including Mayor Karl-Willi Beck, councillors and local residents, tried to block them with a sit-down protest but police threatened to remove them.

"It is our duty to make our voice heard," said Mayor Beck.

About 1,000 police were deployed to prevent trouble.

There were no reports of violence, and the march - held annually - went ahead.

Hess was found hanged in his cell at Spandau Jail in then-West Berlin on 17 August 1987.

He was captured in 1941 after parachuting into Scotland in an apparent personal bid to broker peace with Britain.