Bad Nenndorf, Germany - Several thousand demonstrators took to the streets in Germany in protest at extreme-rightwing activists on Saturday.

In Bad Nenndorf, a spa town which neo-Nazis want to use as a rallying site, political activists, trades unionists and church members from across Germany took part in a counter-demonstration.

Around 600 neo-Nazis marched from the station to the Wincklerbad, the focus of their rally, more than three hours later than planned.

After World War II, the Wincklerbad had housed a British interrogation centre. In 2006, neo-Nazi groups began holding marches to the site, using the events to play down Nazi crimes and to accuse the Allies of World War II atrocities.

"We left around 130 behind at the station an prohibited their participation," police spokesman Axel Bergman said, adding that the group had refused when police tried to frisk them, and wore items of clothing that were not in line with regulations.

There were no serious incidents, police reported.

In Friedberg, in the state of Hesse, around 1,200 people prevented a march by rightwing National Democratic Party (NPD) sympathizers.

The 180-odd rightwing extremists were not able to march along their approved route, which was blocked by counter-demonstrators.

The extremist group, marching under the slogan, "Germans defend yourselves - against Islamification and foreign infiltration," rejected an alternative path and eventually travelled to the town of Nidda where another march was planned.

In Hamburg's St Pauli district, anti-Nazi campaigners gathered for a rally which included concerts, readings and contributions from local celebrities.

"Xenophobia is not an east German problem. We need to wave the flag," said pop singer Sebastian Krumbiegel of German band Die Prinzen.

The campaign, entitled "Loud against Nazis," was celebrating its fifth anniversary.(dpa)