Heavily armed riot police were out in force on the streets of Dresden on Monday night as more than 10,000 people demonstrated against the "Islamisation" of the country, in the latest show of strength of a far-right populist movement that mainstream politicians have described as "a disgrace to Germany".
Pegida, a German acronym for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West, is leading a grassroots movement that is setting the political agenda in Germany, despite being just two months old and with no links to existing parties.
The Justice Minister, Heiko Maas, said they were a "disgrace to Germany", while a state minister in North Rhine-Westphalia called them "Nazis in pinstripe".
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, condemned the protests earlier on Monday and called on those taking part to "take care that they were not exploited" by the far-Right.
"There is freedom to demonstrate in Germany, but there is no place for propaganda and slander against people who come here from another country," Mrs Merkel said.
In Dresden, police were out in force to keep rival protestors apart as thousands also took part in a counter-demonstration.
"Muslims come here and they want to build mosques and wear burqas, but if we go to their countries we have to follow their rules," said one of the Pegida protestors, a nurse who gave her name only as Bianca. » | Justin Huggler, Dresden | Monday, December 15, 2014
