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Protests over the cost of living in Germany turned violent on Saturday evening, with police using water cannons to disperse crowds and masked demonstrators smashing shop windows. Officials said extremist groups had infiltrated rallies organised by the youth-led movement “Gen Z has got this!”, CNN reported.
The demonstrations across Germany were also directed at underfunding in education, environmental concerns and the possible return of mandatory military service. They came amid a wave of similar protests across Europe, including a third consecutive weekend of significant unrest in France.
Although organisers had urged participants to remain peaceful, violence broke out in some German cities, particularly Frankfurt and Cologne. Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the tabloid Bild that “violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from migrant communities” had hijacked the peaceful protests, without elaborating.
Hesse Interior Minister Roman Poseck, whose state includes Frankfurt, said “around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists” had infiltrated the city’s demonstration before violence and looting broke out. “It is shameful how this event here in Frankfurt has ended,” Poseck said.
Poseck said he was determined to prevent the unrest seen in France from being repeated in Germany. “We all have those images from France in our minds — looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles, and attacks on police officers,” he said, according to Reuters. “France must not be held up as a model in this regard.”
In Frankfurt, police said Molotov cocktails had been thrown at emergency personnel and shop windows smashed. Officers arrested a suspect and seized two weapons after windows were broken at a gun shop. Several people broke into shops in the city centre, and more than 30 people had been temporarily detained by late evening, Der Spiegel reported.
Police in Cologne said they used water cannons after some demonstrators set off fireworks during a march in the city centre. “Our measures are directed against troublemakers and violent individuals – not against peaceful participants,” police said in a statement.
Police report injuries and arrests in several cities
In Hamburg, riot police intervened after barriers were set on fire and emergency workers were attacked. Police said emergency personnel had increasingly been pelted with pyrotechnics and construction materials, adding that riot officers were acting immediately.
Berlin police said on X that 27 officers had sustained minor injuries and just under 60 people had been detained on suspicion of offences including property damage, assault and resisting emergency forces.
The movement’s organisers sought to distance themselves from the violence. “We had no influence on what happened after the demonstrations ended,” a spokesperson for their press team was quoted as saying by Der Spiegel.
The organisers scheduled the day of action to coincide with Halloween, aiming to maximise turnout and visibility. The group said 120,000 people attended demonstrations across Germany on Saturday.
“We are young people who no longer want to watch decisions being made about our future without us,” the movement says on its website.
An 18-year-old student demonstrating in Munich told Reuters that the government had offered no response to young people’s concerns “other than to continue making cuts and piling further burdens upon us.” In Dresden, demonstrators carried signs reading “The rich want war, the youth want a future!” and “You’ve screwed up – Gen Z will sort it out.”
Protests also held in France, Portugal and Italy
In France, the Yellow Vests movement held another nationwide protest on Saturday, billed as the third round of demonstrations after rallies on October 17 and 24. The turnout was lower than at the previous events: the French Interior Ministry said 320,000 people protested nationwide, including 70,000 in Paris. That compared with 550,000 on October 17 and 410,000 the previous week.
Most of the French demonstrations were peaceful, though the Interior Ministry said radical groups at the back of marches in several cities attempted to enter city centres to cause damage and loot. It named Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Lille, Nantes, Marseille and Lyon.
Protests over rising housing costs also took place in Portugal and Italy on Saturday. In Lisbon, thousands marched to urge Portugal’s centre-right government to withdraw a rental bill that they said would worsen the housing crisis.
In Italy, demonstrations led largely by student groups and workers focused on inflation, stagnant wages and unaffordable housing in cities including Turin, Bologna and Milan.
