Peaceful 'Gen Z regelt' marches in Germany overshadowed by riots and looting in several cities

Tens of thousands of young people took to the streets on Saturday under the banner 'Gen Z regelt'. The demonstrations started peacefully, but the day also ended with burning barricades, smashed shop windows and running battles with police.

The protesters are demanding action on soaring living costs and education, and they say they feel the political system isn't listening to them.

For most of the day the demonstrations were peaceful, but then the mood changed. In Frankfurt, rioters looted stores, attacked a weapons shop and threw firebombs at police. According to authorities, around 30 people were taken into custody, and water cannons were deployed in several cities.

Reports described masked individuals setting off fireworks during the demonstration, which police tried to separate from the more peaceful protesters. When this failed, police declared the protest over, and most participants left. After darkness fell, mostly young men reportedly attacked shop windows, looted, threw stones and fireworks at police, and police then closed off an entire area of central Frankfurt to disperse protesters.

Julia Sardelli, DW's politics correspondent, said the violence happened on the sidelines of the main demonstration, which was peaceful throughout. Based on recollections and media reports, she described masked participants lighting fireworks, which had already caused concern among police, before escalation began.

Sardelli said that when police could not separate the more peaceful part of the demonstration from people they thought were at risk of becoming more violent, they declared the protest over. That was when most participants left, and the more violent part of the evening started after darkness fell.

The interior minister of the state of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, had warned of possible violence before the protest. Sardelli said police appeared to have been prepared, with water cannons and armored vehicles on site, and that they seemed to try to break up the protest once it appeared to become potentially more violent.

Sardelli said she did not know exactly why police were unable to prevent the violence. She noted that it is sometimes difficult to control crowds when some individuals want to act violently. Around 100 people were identified in Frankfurt, around 30 were taken into custody, and police were able to reestablish control over the evening.

Sardelli said the disturbances in other German cities followed similar dynamics to Frankfurt: after the official peaceful demonstration ended, more violent rioting and looting began. In Cologne, the same pattern emerged. In Hamburg, makeshift barricades were set on fire and police were attacked with stones and fireworks.

Authorities say these incidents were likely an infiltration of the protests by left-wing extremist groups. Berlin saw a different situation: a separate protest planned by more left-wing groups saw altercations with police, and police decided to shut it down, which stopped the violence from escalating further.

Sardelli described the movement as one that has been growing across Europe, with young people taking to the streets in countries around the world. She said the protests stem from common concerns about the future: climate change, the fear that AI could take away thousands of jobs, and growing inequality even though global wealth is at its highest. There is also a general worry that young people do not see their future being better than that of their parents.

The organizers in Germany want more investment in education and social security and more attention to issues involving young people. They are also against mandatory military service and what they call a growing surveillance apparatus in Germany. Sardelli noted these are concerns not necessarily unique to German youth but seen in protests across the continent.

According to the organizers, around 100,000 people took to the streets across 30 cities, with a few thousand in each German city. At times the turnout was lower than the number of people who had registered to participate, so Sardelli said the numbers could potentially have been bigger.

Compared with protests in France or Italy, the overall number of participants was smaller, but Sardelli said there is definitely momentum, with people joining across the country.

Drawing on her experience as a young person in Italy, Sardelli compared the situation of German youth with that in Italy. She said it is even more difficult for young people in Italy when considering youth unemployment, salary levels, opportunities and day-to-day life in schools.

She suggested this may be a hint as to why the demonstrations in Germany were not as big as some of those in other European countries.

Sardelli said that, as often happens when protests include a violent streak, much of the political reaction has focused on condemning the violence and saying it should not have happened. However, she said there also seems to be awareness among some politicians that the violence disrupted the message of the demonstrators, which was legitimate and which had been meant to be peaceful.

Sardelli said there is some understanding for the concerns of young people, but there is a risk that the violent episodes take away from the main message the protesters are trying to convey.

Asked whether the movement is comparable to the climate movement Fridays for Future, Sardelli said that the numbers and attention seen at the height of those demonstrations in Germany in 2019 have not yet been reached, though that may still happen. The group that organized the protests in Germany on October 31 plans to join a Europe-wide protest on November 20, and groups that stayed away from Saturday's protest are calling to take part in that one.

Sardelli said this was the first time this new constellation took to the streets in Germany, so the momentum is there not only in Germany but across Europe, and there is reason for young people to be concerned. She said there is certainly potential for the movement to grow.