Gen Z protests sweep 34 German cities as Frankfurt shops are looted and police report Molotov attacks
Tens of thousands of young protesters marched in 34 German cities on Saturday demanding better education, lower living costs and no compulsory military service, before evening violence in Frankfurt saw shops looted, windows smashed and Molotov cocktails thrown at emergency services.
Hooded rioters looted shops in Frankfurt late on Saturday after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Germany’s biggest cities, in a nationwide day of youth-led protest that was largely peaceful for hours before turning violent in the evening. The demonstrations, organised by the campaign group “Gen Z regelt” — “Gen Z takes charge” — were held in 34 cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Hamburg, and were billed as a demand for a fairer deal for young Germans.
The protesters’ demands centred on everyday pressures and a looming political choice. They called for greater investment in education, healthcare and other public services, for relief from rising living costs, and for opposition to compulsory military service, at a time when the German government is raising defence spending. Organisers framed the campaign as a protest against an unfair distribution of burdens: young people, they argue, are being asked to carry the costs of an ageing society, expensive housing and a bigger military, while schools and services are squeezed.
For most of Saturday, the marches matched that description. Crowds moved through city centres in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, and many businesses had prepared in advance, boarding up windows and planning early closures along shopping streets including Berlin’s luxury Kurfürstendamm boulevard, because of fears of unrest. The demonstrations also coincided with Halloween events, and German authorities said the day had been largely peaceful, while warning that extremist groups might try to exploit the movement.
The mood changed after dark in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial hub. According to a Reuters witness, at least two stores were looted and several more were damaged as parts of the protest turned violent and police struggled to regain control of the city centre. Frankfurt police said on X that “violent disturbances are continuing”, that windows had been smashed at several shops, and that Molotov cocktails were being thrown at emergency services, urging bystanders to avoid the city centre or leave the area.
Reports from the evening added further detail. Police closed the Zeil, one of Germany’s busiest shopping streets, and told bystanders to leave, while a gun shop was among the premises targeted, according to Indian Express reporting. The same reporting said about 30 people were taken into custody in Frankfurt. In Hamburg, some barricades were set on fire, and clashes with police were also reported in the evening in Cologne and Berlin, although the worst of the looting and arson was concentrated in Frankfurt.
Turnout fell well short of what organisers had hoped. The campaign had initially expected 182,000 participants, but police figures from Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin pointed to far smaller numbers — as many as 18,000 across those three cities, according to Reuters reporting. That gap is itself part of the story: it suggests a movement that can mobilise thousands of young people in dozens of cities at once, but has not yet shown it can bring the mass numbers its organisers advertised.
The protests did not emerge in isolation. Germany has struggled to revive economic growth, faces growing pressure on its pension system and public services as the baby-boomer generation retires and the working-age population shrinks, and is debating how far to go in rebuilding its armed forces. For many young protesters, those pressures combine into a single grievance: housing, education and everyday costs feel harder, while the state asks more of them, including through the prospect of conscription.
The German protests also form part of a wider European wave. France has seen three weekends of cost-of-living protests, with hundreds of thousands marching and clashes at the end of a Paris rally, and youth-led demonstrations over living costs and public services have also turned violent in parts of Switzerland, according to weekend coverage. The German organisers’ message — that young people should not pay the price for crises they did not create — echoes the language heard on French streets, even though the German campaign has its own distinct demands around conscription and education.
Not every young people’s organisation is behind the campaign. Germany’s national school student umbrella organisation, BSK, has distanced itself from the “Gen Z regelt” initiative and plans to stage its own day of protest on 20 November. That split underlines a question the movement now faces: whether Saturday’s marches, and the violence that followed them in Frankfurt, will broaden its support or give its critics a reason to dismiss it.
What happens next will depend on several separate tracks. Police will assess the damage in Frankfurt, pursue investigations into the looting and the attacks on emergency workers, and decide whether further arrests follow. The organisers will have to answer for the evening violence, whether they condemn it clearly or argue it was the work of a small minority. And the German government will face renewed pressure to respond to the underlying demands — on education funding, living costs and conscription — before the separate student protest planned for 20 November gives the campaign another moment in the spotlight.
More in News
NewsNorth Korea tests cluster warhead for tactical ballistic missiles and vows to field four types by year’s end
NewsQuad ministers pledge reliable supply chains and warn over export curbs at Atlanta talks, without naming China
News