Shops were looted and clashes broke out between protesters and police in several German cities on Saturday as demonstrations against the rising cost of living and government spending cuts turned violent.
The unrest occurred in Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg following nationwide protests organised by youth campaign group Gen Z regelt, meaning “Gen Z takes charge”.
Police reportedly deployed water cannon to disperse protesters who attacked emergency workers with fireworks, stones and bottles.
In Frankfurt, several shops had their windows smashed, while a section of the city’s main shopping street was cordoned off by security operatives.
Thousands of people had earlier taken to the streets to protest against rising living costs, inadequate funding for schools, cuts to education, social services, culture and healthcare, as well as compulsory military service.
The demonstrations in Germany came amid similar youth-led protests in France, where more than 320,000 people reportedly participated in rallies against increasing living costs and poor public services on Saturday.
Authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin estimated that up to 18,000 people participated in the demonstrations, approximately half the number projected by the organisers.
However, German media reported that tens of thousands of people took part in protests across the country.
A spokesperson for Gen Z regelt, Lina Friedrich, said the demonstrations were organised “to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion”.
She added, “What matters most to us is better support for the health and education systems. We are against compulsory military service and we are in favour of a fairer distribution of the burden.”
As night fell, the largely peaceful demonstrations descended into violence, particularly in Frankfurt, where police reported attacks on emergency services and damage to commercial properties.
In a statement on X, Frankfurt police said “violent riots” were taking place in the city centre.
They disclosed that several shop windows had been smashed and Molotov cocktails thrown at emergency services.
Police later confirmed that the windows of a gun shop had been broken and two weapons seized following the arrest of a suspect.
Several other arrests were also made during the unrest.
Hesse State Interior Minister Roman Poseck accused about 100 left-wing extremists of infiltrating the demonstration in Frankfurt, describing the development as “shameful”.
He said, “We all have those images from France in our minds – looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles, and attacks on police officers… France must not be held up as a model in this regard.”
