Shops were looted in central Frankfurt late on Saturday as violence broke out after mass demonstrations over the cost of living. Clashes with police were also reported in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, following protests that had remained largely peaceful during the day before unrest developed as night fell.
Thousands had taken part in demonstrations organised by the campaign group Gen Z regelt, whose name means "Gen Z takes charge". Its protests focused on the high cost of living, inadequate funding for schools, cuts to public spending and military service. Authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin reported turnout of up to 18,000, approximately half the number estimated on the organisers' website.
Lina Friedrich, a spokesperson for Gen Z regelt, said the campaign wanted greater support for healthcare and education, opposed compulsory military service and sought a fairer sharing of the burden. She described the purpose of the demonstrations as being "to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion".
As the demonstrations gave way to nighttime unrest, police said emergency workers were targeted with fireworks, stones and bottles. Police reported using water cannon to disperse protesters. Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub, was among the cities where the violence followed the earlier, largely peaceful gatherings.
In Frankfurt's centre, police reported on X that rioting was under way. They said several shops had their windows smashed and that Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency services. AFP reported that officers had sealed off a large part of the city's main shopping street. A police spokesperson said numerous arrests had been made.
Officials subsequently reported that windows at a gun shop had also been broken. In their later updates, they said officers had arrested a suspect and seized two weapons.
Hesse's interior minister, Roman Poseck, said around 100 people he described as clearly identified left-wing extremists had infiltrated the Frankfurt protest. He called the way the demonstrations ended "shameful" and warned against treating scenes of unrest in France as an example to follow, referring to looting, fires and attacks on police.
The German unrest came after similar youth-led mass protests in France, where more than 320,000 people also demonstrated on Saturday. Poseck invoked images of burning homes and police vehicles in France as he condemned the violence that followed the Frankfurt demonstration.
