German cost-of-living protests turn violent as shops looted in Frankfurt

People try to break a window of a store selling weapons during a nationwide protest by campaign group Gen Z regelt (Gen Z takes charge) against underfunding of schools, cuts to education, social services, culture and healthcare, rising living costs, and military conscription, in Frankfurt, Germany.

By James Chater

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 — Germany's financial hub — there were incidents of violence in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, with police saying they used water cannon to disperse protesters who targeted emergency workers with fireworks, stones and bottles.

Thousands earlier joined the demonstrations organised by the campaign group Gen Z regelt — meaning "Gen Z takes charge" — to protest against underfunding in schools, the high cost of living, public spending cuts and military service.

The unrest in Germany follows similar youth-led mass protests in France, where more than 320,000 people also demonstrated on Saturday.

Arrests and Crowd Estimates

A large section of Frankfurt's main shopping street was closed off by police, AFP news agency reported. A police spokesperson said many arrests were made in the city.

Authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin reported as many as 18,000 protesters, roughly half of what the organisers had estimated on their website.

Organisers' Demands

Gen Z regelt spokesperson Lina Friedrich said the demonstrations were "to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion".

She said: "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."

Related: Europe's youth is on the march — but does anything actually unite them?

Figure caption: Thousands demonstrate in Paris as protests spread across Europe

Violence After Dark

While protests during the day were largely peaceful, the demonstrations turned violent as night fell.

In a post on X, Frankfurt police said that "violent riots" were occurring in the city centre. The windows of several shops had been smashed and Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency services, police said.

In later updates, officials said the windows of a gun shop were smashed and that they had seized two weapons after arresting a suspect.

Roman Poseck, interior minister of Hesse state, of which Frankfurt is the capital, said that "around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists" had infiltrated the protest in the city. He added that it was "shameful" how the protests had ended.

Poseck 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."

Related Topics

• Germany
• Europe
• Cost of Living
• France

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