Joerg Schoenbohm, the interior minister in Brandenburg state surrounding Berlin, said he outlawed the far-right organization "Schutzbund Deutschland" (Protection Alliance Germany) for inciting racial hatred and pulled its website from the Internet. The decision came after police raided 14 sites including homes and a printing press and seized property belonging to the group including tens of thousands of propaganda brochures, stickers and other neo-Nazi paraphernalia.

"With the ban, we are sending a clear message in the fight against organized right-wing extremism and showing that we are an open, welcoming country," Schoenbohm told reporters.

"There is no place in our country for neo-Nazi propaganda and racial hatred."

In May, a regional court in Berlin banned the flyer attacking Germany player Gerald Asamoah at the request of the German Football Association.