Neo-Nazi concert shut down by German police after violence breaks out

Far-right supporters throw bottles and rocks in fierce clashes before authorities cancel event in Thuringia

A concert attendee is searched by police ahead of the far-right event in the central German town of Apolda on Saturday (AFP)

German police shut down a neo-Nazi rock concert after several officers were injured by people hurling missiles at them.

More than 800 people are thought to have attended the far-right event on Saturday, which was being staged in Apolda in the central state of Thuringia.

A further 500 people also attended a counter protest in the town, holding vigils and attending a late-night church service.

The concert had been billed by organisers as the “Rock against Überfremdung”, a German-language term that translates roughly as “over foreignisation” and is used to describe excess immigration.

Officers had to use pepper spray and batons to subdue the crowd after a group of people attending the far-right event tried to break through a police cordon.

Eight officers were “slightly” injured after those attending the concert threw bottles and rocks at them during a series of skirmishes, Thuringia police said.

The violence forced police into shutting down the concert early, before organisers also called an end to the gathering.

Far-right activists chanted “you wish we had only made music,” after clashes with police, according to local news outlet MDR Thuringen.

Thuringia has long been a base for neo-Nazi concerts and gatherings within Germany.

Efforts to ban the most recent concert failed after it simply moved to another venue when it was blocked from using its initial site.

In 2017, more than 6,000 neo-Nazis from across Europe attended a rock concert in the Thuringia town of Themar.

The event passed largely without incident, with most of the 20 offences recorded by police involving attendees wearing the symbols of banned organisations.