BERLIN (Reuters) - A landlord demanding rent arrears threatened tenants and German police with a whirring chainsaw, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.

The frightened tenants called police to the scene, and the 45-year-old man eventually dropped the chainsaw when the officers showed their guns.

The spokesman said the landlord was apparently trying to collect 13,000 euros ($17,900) in rent on a flat in the southern town of Burgau. He was charged with threatening bodily harm.

($1 = 0.7249 Euros)

(Reporting by Monica Raymunt; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)