Germany’s Gen Z Protests Turn Violent as Frankfurt Shops Are Looted
A day of largely peaceful youth marches across dozens of cities ended after dark, with smashed shopfronts in Frankfurt, water cannon in Cologne, and arrests in Hamburg and Berlin.
Thousands of young people marched across Germany on Saturday to protest the cost of living, underfunded schools, public spending cuts and compulsory military service. For most of the day, the marches were peaceful. After dark, they were not.
In Frankfurt, rioters smashed shop windows and looted stores on the Zeil, the city’s main shopping street. Police closed off part of the district and described “violent riots” in the city centre. Officers said fireworks, stones, bottles and petrol bombs were thrown at emergency workers.
The windows of a gun shop were smashed, police said. One suspect was arrested and two weapons were seized. A witness account reported at least two stores looted and several more damaged.
The trouble spread beyond Frankfurt. Police used water cannon in Cologne after saying officers were targeted with fireworks. In Berlin, demonstrators threw bottles and eggs and officers used pepper spray in places. The BBC reported 27 officers injured and 56 people detained in Berlin. In Hamburg, barricades were set alight and police reported 120 arrests.
The marches behind the night
The demonstrations were organised by the campaign group Gen Z regelt, a name that translates roughly as “Gen Z takes charge.” The group said marches took place in 34 cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Stuttgart.
Its demands covered schools, health care, affordable housing, help with living costs, climate protection and an end to compulsory military service. Spokeswoman Lina Friedrich said the group wanted greater investment in education and health care and a fairer sharing of the burden of military service. The group rejected violence.
Turnout figures differ. Police in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin put the combined turnout in those three cities at up to 18,000, about half the figure listed on the organisers’ website for the same cities. Organisers put the nationwide total at about 120,000, below the roughly 180,000 they had expected.
Germany’s national school student organisation, the BSK, distanced itself from the group and announced its own protest day for November 20.
Two ministers blame infiltrators
Hesse state interior minister Roman Poseck, whose state includes Frankfurt, said around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists had joined the Frankfurt demonstration. He called the ending shameful.
Germany’s federal interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, went further on Sunday. Speaking to the Bild newspaper, he promised tough penalties for looters and rioters and said they would be identified and held accountable. He accused violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from the migrant community of hijacking the otherwise peaceful protests, without elaborating, Reuters reported.
Frankfurt police put more than 30 people under temporary arrest, according to local broadcaster HR. Police credited a heavy presence with preventing larger-scale violence.
The German marches came on the same day as large youth-led protests in France, where the Interior Ministry said about 320,000 people marched over living costs and schools. Most of the French rallies stayed peaceful.
What happens next in Germany will turn on two separate questions: whether the violence in Frankfurt was the work of a small group at the edge of a large march, as the organisers and the state minister suggest in different ways, and whether the daytime marches grow into a lasting movement. The organisers have a date in mind for the next test. The students’ organisation has its own.
