Protests in Frankfurt and other German cities lead to looting and clashes with police

Thousands of people joined demonstrations across Germany on Saturday, organized by the campaign group Gen Z regelt (Gen Z takes charge), to protest against underfunding in schools, the high cost of living, public spending cuts, and military service. The protests took place in several cities, including Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg. While many demonstrations were peaceful, incidents of violence and looting were reported, particularly in Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub.

In Frankfurt, police said "violent riots" occurred in the city centre on Saturday night, with special police units deployed. The windows of several shops were smashed, and molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency services. Officials reported that the windows of a gun shop were smashed and that two weapons were seized after arresting a suspect. People also broke into other shops, stealing items such as trainers. A large section of Frankfurt's main shopping street was closed off by police overnight. A police spokesperson said many arrests were made. Authorities in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin reported as many as 18,000 protesters, roughly half of what organizers had estimated. German media reported tens of thousands protested in German cities on Saturday.

Roman Poseck, interior minister of Hesse state, said that "around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists" had infiltrated the protest in Frankfurt. He added that it was "shameful" how the protests had ended. "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," he said. Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Bild newspaper that overnight police had prevented "violence like that seen in Paris" in recent weeks and called for "harsh punishments" for rioters and looters.

In other cities, similar incidents occurred. In Cologne, police said officers were attacked near the main train station with bottles and a bicycle. In Berlin, a smaller demonstration in the evening resulted in 27 police officers being injured and up to 56 people temporarily detained. In Hamburg, people dressed in black set off fireworks and set barricades on fire, with public broadcaster NDR reporting that 120 people were arrested. Police said the situation calmed down overnight into Sunday in Frankfurt.

A spokesperson for Gen Z regelt, Lina Friedrich, said the demonstrations were "to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion." She added: "What matters most to us is better support for the health and education systems. We are against compulsory military service and we are in favor of a fairer distribution of the burden."

The protests in Germany coincided with large-scale demonstrations in other European countries. In France, more than 320,000 people took part in a third consecutive weekend of largely peaceful protests, demanding action on the high cost of living and poor public services. Thousands of police were deployed, and officers fired tear gas in some cities. More than 770 arrests were made across France, roughly half of the previous week's total, the French interior ministry said. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said a police officer had been injured by a molotov cocktail, and prosecutors launched an attempted murder probe. In Italy, clashes between police and demonstrators occurred in Rome and Turin. In Portugal, police cleared a tent camp after thousands marched against a rental bill. Mostly young protesters have recently taken to the streets in France, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Serbia, and Albania, focusing largely on cost-of-living issues, access to housing, quality of education, and cuts to public services.

According to Mehr News, the unrest in Germany follows similar youth-led mass protests in France, where more than 320,000 people demonstrated on Saturday.