A youth-led protest movement staged rallies across Germany on Saturday, and police deployed water cannon in at least two cities after marches that organisers had promised would be peaceful. The demonstrations were held in 34 cities, Hiru News reported, and were deliberately timed to coincide with Halloween.
The movement behind them calls itself Gen Z regelt. CNN renders the name as “Gen Z has got this!”; Hiru translates it as “Gen Z takes charge.”
What they were demanding
Protesters called for greater investment in education and action on the cost of living. CNN lists the movement’s grievances as the high cost of living, underfunded schools and universities, environmental concerns, and a possible reintroduction of compulsory military service — which the organisation opposes.
“We are young people who no longer want to watch decisions being made about our future without us,” the movement says on its website.
The German rallies are an offshoot of cost-of-living protests that began in France, where hundreds of thousands marched again on Saturday. CNN reports the German movement was inspired by comparable campaigns in France and Italy.
Turnout: three different figures
The numbers attached to this protest do not agree, and the gap matters.
- Before the event, organisers told Hiru they expected more than 160,000 people to join.
- Afterwards, Gen Z regelt said 120,000 had attended across Germany, according to CNN.
- CNN’s own correspondents described the turnout in its report as “tens of thousands.”
This desk has not found an independent police estimate. The 160,000 figure is a pre-event projection and should not be read as a turnout count.
Peaceful by day, clashes after dark
Organisers had instructed participants to protest peacefully and to keep their faces visible even in Halloween costumes. German authorities had likewise expected the day to pass largely without incident, Hiru reported, precisely because the rallies coincided with Halloween.
The protest in Berlin appeared peaceful, CNN reported. Elsewhere it did not hold:
- Cologne — police used water cannon after protesters set off fireworks during a city-centre march. “Our measures are directed against troublemakers and violent individuals – not against peaceful participants,” police said.
- Hamburg — riot police moved in after barriers were set alight and emergency workers were attacked. Police described “an increase in incidents of emergency personnel being pelted with pyrotechnics and construction (materials).”
- Frankfurt — Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency personnel and shop windows were smashed, closing part of the Zeil shopping street. Officers arrested a suspect and seized two weapons after windows were broken at a gun shop.
Extra officers had been deployed nationwide beforehand, and luxury retailers on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm boarded up their windows as a precaution.
The extremism warning
Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior said segments of far-left extremist groups in the country, along with some groups linked to foreign extremist movements, had joined efforts to drum up support for the protests, according to Hiru’s filing. Authorities had warned in advance that extremist groups might attempt to use the youth movement for their own ends.
That warning is the one element of the pre-event reporting the day appears to have borne out, though neither source attributes the Cologne, Hamburg or Frankfurt violence to any named group.
Not reported
Neither source gives an arrest total across the country, an injury count for protesters or police, or a city-by-city breakdown of turnout. The Interior Ministry statement names no organisation. Hiru lists Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich among the protest cities; CNN adds Cologne. Neither enumerates the full 34.
Two verified newsrooms. Hiru’s filing was published before the marches began and is a curtain-raiser — it carries the 34-city count and the Interior Ministry warning, but none of the day’s events. The account of what actually happened comes from CNN, whose report was still being updated as this article was written.
