Tensions were high in Berlin Saturday, as neo-Nazis marched to commemorate the 30th anniversary since the death of Rudolf Hess, a senior Nazi who had once served as Hitler's deputy.

Police were on high alert, determined to prevent the violence that had taken place at a white supremacist march in Virginia a week prior. Marchers were not allowed to carry anything that had Nazi symbols, and the consumption of alcohol was forbidden.

The marchers were heckled by the scores of counterprotesters who showed up, while a phalanx of riot police stood between them to prevent violence.

Rudolf Hess was a prominent Nazi, helping Hitler write 'Mein Kampf' when they were incarcerated together in Lansberg Prison. Hess had a prominent role in authoring the infamous Nuremberg Laws, and at one point served as the deputy-Fuhrer.

He was captured by the British in 1941 after flying alone to Scotland in attempt to negotiate a peace treaty with the United Kingdom, and was sentenced to life in prison. He hanged himself with an electric cord in 1987 at Spandau Jail.

Neo-Nazis worship Hess, as he never renounced his racist views. He told the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946 that "I do not regret anything. If I were to begin all over again, I would act just as I have acted, even if I knew that in the end I should meet a fiery death at the stake."