German protests turn violent as activists clash with police

(Bloomberg) — Mass demonstrations in Germany that had been largely peaceful on Saturday turned violent as night fell, with rioters facing off against police in Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin.

Authorities blocked off Frankfurt’s main shopping street, Die Zeil, and arrested more than 30 people after protesters smashed shop windows and made off with streetwear and other goods. Officers arrested one person suspected of breaking into a gun store and stealing two guns they recovered.

Police used water cannons to disperse the crowds, while protesters threw Molotov cocktails and set off fireworks. By early Sunday, the streets had emptied as police maintained a visible presence.

The protests were organized by a group known as “Gen Z regelt” – loosely translated as “Gen Z solves things” – which stressed before Saturday’s mass rally that it would not tolerate any form of violence against people or property. Crowds fell short of the originally expected more than 150,000 demonstrators in more than 30 cities. The group said it plans another nationwide protest on November 14.

“We are young people who no longer want to watch our future being decided without us,” he said in a post on his website, calling on people to join the demonstration “for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life.”

Authorities feared a repeat of the violence that swept through France last month, where blockades and marches turned into nationwide protests against the cost of living that drew more than half a million people to riots, arson and looting.

“I have repeatedly signaled that we must expect left-wing extremists with the potential for violence to infiltrate this demonstration, and that is exactly what happened,” ARD television’s Tagesschau quoted Hesse’s Interior Minister Roman Poseck as saying.

In Berlin, a mass rally at the Brandenburg Gate took place with little incident, but police in other parts of the city arrested nearly 60 people for property damage, assault, resisting law enforcement and violations of the Weapons and Explosives Act.

The unrest in France has galvanized activists in other cities, including Zurich, where several hundred masked and black-clad people gathered around Langstrasse and Helvetiaplatz in the city center for an unsanctioned protest on Saturday night. Participants built barricades using garbage containers and other objects and set some of them on fire. A car was set on fire on nearby Zwinglistrasse. Police used water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.

Youth protests have erupted across Europe in recent weeks, from Belgium and Portugal in the west to Serbia and Albania in the east. Although complaints vary slightly from country to country, anger over affordability, crumbling infrastructure and inequality prevails. Students in France began demonstrating in mid-September to denounce overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and outdated buildings.

Following the violent riots in France, the authorities introduced tighter security measures and promised help to businesses and shop owners who suffered damage. In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni’s government approved new security measures aimed at stopping violent protests, including tougher penalties for minors after a series of incidents across the country.

More than 300,000 people joined a new wave of protests in France on Saturday, which also sparked outbreaks of violence. Paris deployed around 70,000 police, similar to last weekend’s demonstrations. Police arrested 565 people in Paris and five officers were injured, according to the Interior Ministry and Paris police.

Pictures released by the National Gendarmerie showed one officer hit by a Molotov cocktail.

Student unions this week called for lockouts of high schools and universities and urged students to join a major cross-industry strike planned for November 5 in France.

–With help from Christoph Rauwald, Allegra Catelli and Claudia Cohen.

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