Several thousand people gathered in central Berlin on Saturday to demonstrate against right-wing extremism the day before Germany votes in European Parliament elections, police reported.
The afternoon demonstration was so far peaceful, with many people joining, a police spokesman said as the protest was proceeding. The organizers had registered a demonstration for 10,000 participants.
The protestors held up placards reading "Rights for people instead of right-wing people" and "Diversity without alternative."
A broad alliance of civil society organizations in major cities, such as Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Dresden, had called for the demonstrations under the rubric "Halt right-wing extremism. Defend democracy."
One of the speakers scheduled to speak at the Berlin rally is Matthias Ecke, a candidate in the elections, who was beaten up as he was putting up election posters for the Social Democrats (SPD) in Dresden a month ago.
