Cost-of-living protests in Germany turned violent on Saturday evening with police using water cannons to disperse crowds and masked rioters smashed shop windows, as officials warn the day of rallies organized by a youth-led movement was infiltrated by extremist factions.
Saturday’s action across Germany, organized by the ‘Gen Z has got this!’ movement, railed against the high cost of living, underfunding in education, environmental concerns and a potential reintroduction of mandatory military service. It follows a wave of similar protests which have swept Europe, including significant unrest in France, which saw a third straight weekend of rallies.
Despite organizers calling for the protests to remain peaceful, violence broke out in some German cities, most notably in Frankfurt and Cologne. Police used water cannons while masked protesters smashed shop windows.
Speaking to German tabloid Bild, Germany’s interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt said that “violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from migrant communities” hijacked the peaceful protests, without elaborating further.
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The interior minister for the state of Hesse, which includes Frankfurt, warned that “around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists” infiltrated the city’s protest as the evening descended into violence and looting.
“It is shameful how this event here in Frankfurt has ended,” Roman Poseck said.
Poseck said he was determined the violence that has rocked France would not be replicated 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 were thrown at emergency personnel and shop windows were smashed. Officers arrested a suspect and seized two weapons after windows were broken at a gun shop. According to German news magazine Der Spiegel, several people broke into shops in downtown Frankfurt and over 30 people had been temporarily detained in city by the late evening.
Police in Cologne said water cannons were used after some protesters set off fireworks during a march in the city center. “Our measures are directed against troublemakers and violent individuals – not against peaceful participants,” the police said in a statement.
In Hamburg, riot police responded after barriers were set on fire and emergency service workers were attacked. “There has been an increase in incidents of emergency personnel being pelted with pyrotechnics and construction (materials) … our riot police are taking immediate action against this,” the police said.
Berlin police wrote on X that 27 officers in the German capital had sustained minor injuries and just under 60 people had been detained for offenses including property damage, assault, and resistance against emergency forces.
The movement’s organizers have sought to distance themselves from the ensuing violence. “We had no influence on what happened after the demonstrations ended,” a spokesperson from their press team was quoted by Der Spiegel as saying.
Organizers of ‘Gen Z has got this!’ planned the day of action to coincide with Halloween, to maximize turnout and visibility. According to the organization, 120,000 people attended the protests across Germany on Saturday.
“We are young people who no longer want to watch decisions being made about our future without us,” the movement states on its website.
Speaking for his reasons for joining the movement, an 18-year-old student protester in Munich told Reuters, “The government has offered no response to our concerns other than to continue making cuts and piling further burdens upon us.” In the eastern city of Dresden, demonstrators held placards reading, “The rich want war, the youth want a future!” and “You’ve screwed up – Gen Z will sort it out.”
Europe-wide protests
More nationwide protests from the Yellow Vests movement took place in France on Saturday, in what was billed as the third act of demonstrations, following earlier protests on October 17 and 24.
This time, however, they were more scaled down than before. The French Interior Ministry said 320,000 people protested across the country on Saturday, with 70,000 turning up in Paris; a significantly smaller number than the 550,000 who demonstrated on October 17 and the 410,000 who showed up last week.
The French protests were mostly peaceful, except for a few incidents. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that “radical elements at the tail end of the processions” in several cities. including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Lille, Nantes, Marseille, and Lyon, “attempted to enter city centers with the intent to cause damage and engage in looting.”
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Protests over soaring housing costs also swept Portugal and Italy on Saturday. In the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, thousands marched to demand Portugal’s center-right government withdraw a rental bill they say will worsen the country’s housing crisis.
In Italy, protests largely led by student groups and workers rallied against inflation, stagnant wages and unaffordable housing in cities including Turin, Bologna and Milan.
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