Cost-of-living protests in Germany turned violent on Saturday night, with police using water cannons to disperse crowds and masked rioters smashing shop windows, with authorities warning that extremists had infiltrated the day of a rally organized by a youth-led movement.
Actions across Germany on Saturday organized by “Gen Z got this!” A movement plagued by high costs of living, lack of funding for education, environmental concerns and the potential reintroduction of compulsory military service. This follows a wave of similar protests that have swept Europe, including significant violence in France, where rallies were held over three consecutive weekends.
Despite calls from organizers for protests to remain peaceful, violence broke out in some German cities, particularly Frankfurt and Cologne. Police used water cannon as masked protesters smashed store windows.
Speaking to the German tabloid Bild, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said “violent left-wing groups and troublemakers from immigrant communities” had hijacked the peaceful protests, but did not elaborate further.
The interior minister of the state of Hesse, which includes Frankfurt, warned that “about 100 apparently left-wing extremists” had invaded a protest in the city as the night turned into violence and looting.
“It’s embarrassing that this event here in Frankfurt ended like this,” said Roman Posek.
Mr Possek said he was determined that the violence that rocked France would not be repeated in Germany.
“I have images of France in my head: looting, burning houses, burning police cars, attacking police officers,” he said, according to Reuters. “France should not be held up as a model in this respect.”
In Frankfurt, police said Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency workers and store windows were smashed. Officers arrested a suspect and seized two weapons after a gun store window was broken. According to German news magazine Der Spiegel, several people broke into stores in downtown Frankfurt, and by evening more than 30 people had been detained in the city.
Cologne police said water cannons were used after some demonstrators set off fireworks during a march in the city centre. “Our measures are directed at troublemakers and violent individuals, not peaceful protesters,” police said in a statement.
Riot police responded to Hamburg after a fence was set on fire and emergency workers attacked. “There has been an increase in incidents of incendiary objects and construction materials being thrown at emergency personnel. Riot police are taking immediate action against this,” police said.
Berlin police told X that 27 police officers suffered minor injuries in the German capital and nearly 60 people were detained on charges including criminal damage to property, assault and resisting emergency forces.
Organizers of the movement have sought to distance themselves from the violence that followed. “We had no influence on what happened after the demonstrations ended,” a spokesperson for the news team said, Der Spiegel reported.
Organizers of “Gen Z Got This!” planned a day of action to coincide with Halloween to maximize attendance and visibility. The group said 120,000 people took part in protests across Germany on Saturday.
“We are young people who no longer want to see decisions about their future made without them,” the movement says on its website.
An 18-year-old student protesting in Munich told Reuters why he joined the movement: “The government has given no answer to our concerns other than to continue making cuts and imposing more burdens on us.” In the eastern city of Dresden, demonstrators held placards that read: “The rich want war, the young want the future!” and “You failed. Gen Z will fix it.”
Following protests on October 17 and 24, further nationwide protests by the yellow vest movement took place in France on Saturday, in what has been described as the third act of the demonstrations.
However, this time it was on a smaller scale than before. France’s interior ministry said 320,000 people protested across the country on Saturday, with 70,000 gathering in Paris. This number is significantly lower than the 550,000 people who demonstrated on October 17th and the 410,000 who took part in demonstrations last week.
Protests in France have been largely peaceful, with the exception of a few incidents. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that “militants are at the back of the queue” in several cities. Cities such as Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Lille, Nantes, Marseille and Lyon “attempted to enter their city centers with the aim of causing damage and plundering”.
Protests against soaring housing costs also spread to Portugal and Italy on Saturday. Thousands of people marched in Portugal’s capital Lisbon to demand that Portugal’s centre-right government scrap a rent bill they say will worsen the country’s housing crisis.
In Italy, protests led mainly by student groups and workers rallied against inflation, stagnant wages and affordable housing in cities such as Turin, Bologna and Milan.
