Apple removed a notorious anthem of the Nazi Party from the German version of its iTunes online music store on Wednesday, a German spokesman for the U.S. firm told Reuters.

Named after a young party activist killed in 1930, the marching song Horst Wessel Lied, was the unofficial anthem of the Nazis until it was banned in Germany at the end of World War Two.

The Apple spokesman said it had been taken off iTunes but did not say if other Nazi-era songs had also been removed.

The availability of Nazi anthems on iTunes and retailer Amazon's German website was first reported by the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung daily on Wednesday.

Apple's iTunes store also sold songs and albums of neo-Nazi bands banned by the government, the newspaper reported.

Amazon was reported also to have removed banned far-right songs, but was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Tim Pearce)

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