Neo-Nazis march to mark 1945 Allied bombing of Dresden in Germany

On the outskirts of Dresden's Old Town, hundreds of neo-Nazis gathered in the morning for a "commemoration in honour of the Dresden air war dead of February 13, 1945."

Police estimated the number of participants in the procession at up to 500, which grew to around 750, who walked into the city centre to the sound of Wagner music and loud counter-protests nearby from hundreds of people.

At the Baroque landmark Zwinger palace, hundreds of counter-demonstrators loudly opposed the "silent march," which was already accompanied by shouts of "Nazis out" at the roadside.

A helicopter circled over the old town, while a water cannon and an evacuation tank stood near the route.