Police forces take protesters into custody during a demonstration against a party congress of the German right wing party AfD.
Police forces take protesters into custody during a demonstration against a party congress of the German right wing party AfD.
PHILIPP GUELLAND/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

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More than 1,000 people were protesting outside a far-right political party in Stuttgart

Demonstrators tried to block entrances and things got violent, police said

CNN  — 

Five hundred people were arrested in Germany after violent clashes broke out, authorities said.

More than 1,000 people were protesting Saturday in Stuttgart, where Alternative for Germany, a far-right political party, is holding a two-day conference over the weekend.

Demonstrators tried to block party members from entering the building where their conference was taking place.

Opinion: Merkel down but not out

BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 14: German Chancellor and Chairwoman of the German Christian Democrats (CDU) Angela Merkel speaks to the media following elections in three German states on March 14, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Voters went to the polls yesterday in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Wuerttemberg and the right-leaning populist Alternative fuer Deutschland (Alternative for Germany,AfD) scored double-digit results in all three, dealing a blow to Germany's established parties, especially to the CDU. Merkel's liberal immigration policy towards migrants and refugees was a major issue in the elections and the AfD aimed its campaign at Germans who are uneasy with so many newcomers. (Photo by Axel Schmidt/Getty Images)
BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 14: German Chancellor and Chairwoman of the German Christian Democrats (CDU) Angela Merkel speaks to the media following elections in three German states on March 14, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Voters went to the polls yesterday in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Wuerttemberg and the right-leaning populist Alternative fuer Deutschland (Alternative for Germany,AfD) scored double-digit results in all three, dealing a blow to Germany's established parties, especially to the CDU. Merkel's liberal immigration policy towards migrants and refugees was a major issue in the elections and the AfD aimed its campaign at Germans who are uneasy with so many newcomers. (Photo by Axel Schmidt/Getty Images)
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Protesters then clashed with police, throwing flares and setting tires on fire, according to Richard Leuze, the spokesman for Reutlingen police.

About 2,000 party members were trying to attend the conference.

Another smaller, peaceful demonstration in the southern German city drew about 800 people.

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More protests are expected Sunday during the convention’s second day.

CNN’s Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report