Supporters of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party marched through central Berlin to protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel's government on Sunday, while a heavy police presence kept the marchers away from a raft of counter-demonstrations.

Police said several thousand people turned out for the demonstration organized by Alternative for Germany, known by its German acronym AfD.

A variety of counter-demonstrations attracted several thousand participants each, police said.

The AfD event opened with German flags, placards such as "No Islam in Germany" and chants of "Merkel must go" at Berlin's central train station. </s> Protesters have injured a police officer while trying to block the hotel in Cologne where the nationalist Alternative for Germany party is holding a two-day convention.

Hundreds of demonstrators are trying to keep AfD party members from entering their convention centre - leading to a a massive police presence.

Around 50,000 left-wing protesters are expected and about 4,000 police officers are on the ground in Cologne to prevent a violent escalation of anti-populist rallies.

The convention takes place days after AfD's co-leader Frauke Petry, who is Germany's best-known nationalist politician, said that she won't be her party's top candidate in the September general election.

The decision appears to reflect a growing split among its leading figures. </s> Supporters of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party have marched through central Berlin to protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel ’s government.

Supporters of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party have marched through central Berlin to protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.

Police said several thousand people turned out for the demonstration organised by Alternative for Germany, known by its German acronym AfD. A variety of counter-demonstrations attracted several thousand participants each, police said.

The AfD event opened with German flags, placards such as “No Islam in Germany” and chants of “Merkel must go” at Berlin’s central train station. The party’s supporters marched from the rally toward the landmark Brandenburg Gate.

Some of the counter-protesters took to rafts on the Spree river, within sight of the train station. Activists protest against racism on ships on the Spree river in Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP) Groups organising protests against AfD included artists and a coalition of Berlin music clubs hoping to “blow away” the party with loud techno beats.

About 2,000 police officers were in place to prevent trouble, including reinforcements from other parts of Germany. AfD won 12.6% of the vote to enter Germany’s national parliament last year on anti-migrant and anti-establishment sentiment.

It is now the largest of four opposition parties after the country’s two biggest parties finally agreed to continue a centrist “grand coalition” under Ms Merkel earlier this year.

An AfD regional leader, Andreas Kalbitz, proclaimed that “this is a signal” and argued that it shows “AfD is the centre of society”. </s> BERLIN (AP) - Protesters have injured one police officer while trying to block the hotel in Cologne where the nationalist Alternative for Germany party is holding a two-day convention.

The German news agency dpa reported Saturday that AfD party members could enter their convention center only with massive police protection because hundreds of demonstrators tried to keep them out.

Around 50,000 left-wing protesters are expected and about 4,000 police officers are on the ground in Cologne to prevent a violent escalation of anti-populist rallies.

The convention takes place days after AfD's co-leader Frauke Petry, who is Germany's best-known nationalist politician, said that she won't be her party's top candidate in the September general election, a decision that appears to reflect a growing split among its leading figures. </s> There has been at least one arrest.

Two police officers were injured in the clashes, one while escorting party members.

Left-wing protesters were demonstrating against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is holding a conference in the city.

Protesters and police have clashed in Cologne at a demonstration outside a nationalist convention.

At least 4,000 police officers were trying to control the situation and keep protesters away from the hotel where the meeting is taking place.

It is thought around 10,000 protesters turned up to demonstrate.

The AfD is meeting to choose a new co-leader ahead of the election later this year.

The convention takes place days after AfD's co-leader Frauke Petry, who is Germany's best-known nationalist politician, said that she won't be her party's top candidate in the September general election, a decision that appears to reflect a growing split among its leading figures.

Support for the party, which attacks Chancellor Angela Merkel for having allowed more than a million migrants into Germany in the last two years, has tumbled in recent months. </s> Thousands of people have gathered in Germany's capital to protest against a far-right rally called for by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country's main opposition party.

An estimated 20,000 counter-demonstrators, including anti-fascists, pro-refugee organisations and LGBTQI groups, took to the streets of Berlin, shouting slogans against the AfD rally, which saw party leaders addressing a crowd of about 5,000.

"Many times during the speeches by AfD leaders you couldn't hear what they were saying because they [counter-demonstrators] were playing loud band music and chanting 'Nazis out'," said Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from Berlin.

He added that about 2,000 police officers had been deployed "to make sure there was no trouble".

"In the end, it was a vocal confrontation rather than a violent one," Chater said.

All about the base.



Hundreds of counter-demonstrators already gathering in Berlin near to the capital’s Victory Column. Dozens of clubs, theatres and rights groups from across Berlin will later march against far-right AfD. Say they want to “bass away the AfD”#AfDwegbassen pic.twitter.com/ufo0EHfl4b — Kate Brady (@kbrady90) May 27, 2018

Founded in 2013, the AfD became the first far-right party to enter Germany's Bundestag in decades after securing more than 12 percent in last September's elections on the back of a largely anti-refugee and anti-Islam agenda.

The AfD called the rally in response to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's migration policy and other grievances.

"Parallel (to parliament), we take to the streets and give our members and supporters the chance to actively participate," AfD organiser Guido Reil said at a press conference ahead of Sunday's event, as reported by Deutsche Welle.

"That's very important," he added. "Because we're alternative. It's a new concept."

'Stop the hate'

Before the rally, Stoppt den Hass (Stop the Hate), an umbrella of anti-AfD protest groups, had said in a statement that it intended to block the far-right march from reaching its final destination.

"The AfD blames Muslims and displaced people for all evils, from poverty to sexual violence," Stoppt den Hass said on its website.

The rise of Germany's far right has coincided with a spike in anti-Semitism and attacks targeting refugee accommodations throughout the country.

In early May, a senior government official, Felix Klein, accused the AfD of creating a political environment in which anti-Semitism is tolerated.

"I don't want to say the AfD is anti-Semitic, per se, but it tolerates representatives who are demanding a new policy of remembrance," Klein told news website watson.de at the time.

"They initiated this discussion about drawing a line (under the Holocaust), and that is very dangerous because it helps make anti-Semitism presentable again."

German authorities documented more than 3,500 attacks on refugees and their accommodations in 2016, and another 2,219 were recorded in 2017.

Although the AfD was initially founded as a Eurosceptic party, it was only able to break the five-percent threshold to enter the Bundestag after shifting its focus to migration and Islam.

Al Jazeera's Chater said the party had caused a "real impact" in German politics, particularly in the Bundestag, where the party holds 92 seats.

"It is the first time since World War II that we are beginning to hear racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic and anti-Islamic comments, not only in the parliament but of course during these rallies on the streets of Berlin, and that is what has incensed these counter-protesters," Chater said.

"The whole political complexion of Germany has changed since this party [the AfD] became the main opposition party." </s> Protesters have marched on the streets in Cologne to show their opposition to Germany's AfD party, as it met for talks ahead of September's election.

COLOGNE, GERMANY—Divisions among German nationalists erupted Saturday as delegates from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party rejected an appeal by one of their leaders to seek a pragmatic political path instead of turning into a “fundamental opposition” party.

While tensions brewed inside the AfD party convention in the western German city of Cologne, outside the hotel hundreds of left-wing demonstrators tried to block about 600 AfD party members from entering. The delegates needed massive police protection to get into the convention, and protesters injured one police officer Saturday morning while trying to block the hotel.

Authorities had 4,000 police officers on the ground to prevent a violent escalation of anti-populist rallies by an expected 50,000 left-wing protesters.

Speaking before AfD members, nationalist politician Frauke Petry said the party needed to set the course for a “spiritual-moral change” in Germany and the rest of Europe. But a majority of the delegates rejected a vote on the party’s future path that she had suggested.

In comparison, Joerg Meuthen, a more far-right party leader who is one of Petry’s rivals, was cheered strongly when he lashed out at German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government’s migration policy. </s> Two police officers were injured and a car was set ablaze when violent protests broke out in Cologne, where the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is holding a convention.

Up to 15,000 demonstrators and hard-left activists gathered in the city, with around 4,000 officers, many clad in riot gear or on horseback, deployed to prevent the escalation of anti-populist rallies.

Some 600 AfD delegates are meeting to discuss policy for September's national elections, but could only enter the convention centre under heavy police protection as protesters tried to keep them out.

The two-day convention takes place days after AfD's co-leader Frauke Petry, Germany's best-known nationalist politician, said she will not be her party's top candidate in the general election – an apparent reflection of a growing split among leading party figures.

A spokesman for the Cologne police said the situation in the western German city was “very dynamic” and “fairly aggressive” in some areas.

He said police stopped about 100 protesters early on Saturday for identity checks, but they were not detained.

Broadcaster n-tv showed a group of around 50 people clashing with police on horses, and a television correspondent said police used pepper spray against some of the demonstrators.

The AfD, which rails against Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to welcome over a million migrants over the past two years, is polling between eight to 10 percent support ahead of the election.

That is enough to give the party seats in parliament for the first time, but well below peak support seen in late 2016.

In her opening speech, before which she received a standing ovation from some party members, Ms Petry signalled she was willing to make compromises on her controversial motion for the party's future strategy.

Ms Petry has upset many within the party by introducing a motion in which she said the AfD should aim to join coalitions in future and govern, instead of being a “fundamental” opposition party that only made provocative statements.

But a majority of delegates voted around midday against discussing her motion. </s> Berlin’s clubs and clubbers brought their thumping techno to the streets on Sunday to go head-to-head with a rally organized by the right-wing political party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The AfD rally of around 5,000 marched from the city’s central station to the Brandenburg Gate, but found themselves outnumbered five to one, and their chants of “we are the people” drowned out by the 25,000 counter-protesters and sound systems blasting music. The counter-demonstration was organized by the “Stop the hatred, stop the AfD” alliance, a broad collection of political parties, unions, and civil society organizations.

The AfD, which is virulently anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim, swept into Germany’s parliament for the first time after the general election last September. It is now the third-largest party in the Bundestag. It initially said it expected a turnout of 10,000 at its “for the future of Germany” march on Sunday, but later revised that number down to 5,000. Around 2,000 police kept the peace Sunday, with just one minor injury reported.

Around 100 clubs organized the “Bass Away the AFD” demonstration, with DJs playing on trucks and floats on the Spree river. Berlin has long been known for its dance club culture, and the atmosphere was not unlike the famous German love parade techno festival, which originated in the city. But this time the message was serious: The AfD, with its racism and hatred, has no place in Berlin.

“The Berlin club culture is everything that Nazis are not,” the group said in a statement. “We are progressive, queer, feminist, anti-racist, inclusive, colorful, and we have unicorns.”
An estimated 20,000 people protest against an Alternative for Germany rally attracting 5,000 demonstrators in Berlin; 2,000 police are deployed.