Rioters looted shops in central Frankfurt late on Saturday and clashes erupted with police there and in other German cities after largely peaceful mass protests over the cost of living. Besides Frankfurt, which serves as Germany’s financial hub, violence occurred in Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg, where police deployed water cannon against protesters who attacked emergency workers with fireworks, stones, and bottles.
Demonstrations and Demands
Thousands of people participated in the demonstrations organized by the campaign group Gen Z regelt, which translates to “Gen Z takes charge”. The movement protested against underfunding in schools, the high cost of living, public spending cuts, and military service. Authorities across Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin recorded up to 18,000 protesters, representing about half of the attendance organizers had anticipated on their website.
Gen Z regelt spokesperson Lina Friedrich stated that the demonstrations were held 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.”
Escalation Into Violence
Although daytime protests remained largely peaceful, the situation deteriorated into violence as night fell. Frankfurt police reported via social media platform X that violent riots were taking place in the city center, noting that several shop windows were smashed and molotov cocktails were hurled at emergency services. Subsequent updates from officials confirmed that the windows of a firearm shop were broken and two weapons were confiscated following a suspect’s arrest. As reported by AFP news agency, police sealed off a major section of Frankfurt’s main shopping street and made numerous arrests in the city.
Roman Poseck, the interior minister of Hesse state, where Frankfurt serves as the capital, stated that roughly 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists had infiltrated the protest. He described the conclusion of the demonstrations as shameful and cautioned against mirroring unrest seen in neighboring countries, noting parallels to recent events in France where over 320,000 people also demonstrated on Saturday.
