German protests in Frankfurt turned violent on Saturday when rioters looted shops in the city centre and clashes spread to Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg. Earlier in the day, thousands had joined largely peaceful demonstrations organized by Gen Z regelt over the cost of living, schools, public spending cuts and military service.
Authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin reported as many as 18,000 protesters. On Saturday night, Frankfurt police said violent riots were under way in the city centre, special police units were deployed, and police used water cannon after protesters targeted emergency workers with fireworks, stones and bottles.
Frankfurt shopfronts smashed
Several shop windows were smashed in central Frankfurt, including the windows of a gun shop, and police seized two weapons after arresting a suspect. Local media reported that people broke into other shops and stole trainers and other items. That sequence turned a daytime march into a night of policing around the main shopping streets, where shop owners faced damaged storefronts and emergency services faced direct attacks.
Gen Z regelt and Lina Friedrich
The demonstrations were organized by Gen Z regelt, and spokesperson Lina Friedrich said they were “to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion”. Friedrich said, “What matters most to us is better support for the health and education systems.” Friedrich also said, “We are against compulsory military service and we are in favour of a fairer distribution of the burden.”
Roman Poseck, the Hesse state interior minister, said around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists had infiltrated the Frankfurt protest and called the end of the protests “shameful”. Poseck also 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.”
Police in Frankfurt overnight
Police said the situation calmed down overnight into Sunday in Frankfurt, but the scale of the arrests and any charges that may follow were not set out. The unrest in Germany came the same day as similar youth-led mass protests in France, where more than 320,000 people demonstrated, giving the Frankfurt violence a wider European backdrop without changing the immediate police question on the ground: who is facing prosecution after the looting and the attacks on emergency workers.
