Thousands join Gen Z-led protests across Germany

Thousands of people joined youth-led demonstrations across Germany on Saturday, calling for greater education funding, relief from rising living costs, more social and climate protections, and opposition to a possible return of military conscription.

The protests, organized under the banner “Gen Z regelt” (“Gen Z sorts it”), were registered in 34 cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne. Organizers had reported roughly 180,000 expressions of interest online, but no nationwide attendance figure was immediately available.

Police said about 5,000 people gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, while organizers put the capital’s crowd at 10,000. Police estimates cited by Deutsche Welle included 6,700 participants in Hamburg, more than 1,500 in Frankfurt, about 1,000 in Munich, 1,200 in Mainz and 2,500 in Freiburg.

Demonstrations began largely peacefully in many cities, although authorities intervened in several places. In Hamburg, police said masked protesters dismantled construction barriers, set some alight and were dispersed with pepper spray. Cologne police canceled a planned march because of covered faces and pyrotechnics, allowing the event to continue as a stationary rally. Police in Stuttgart repeatedly halted a march over similar concerns and departures from the agreed route.

Ahead of the rallies, federal authorities warned that extremist groups might try to exploit the movement, although security officials said they had no evidence of planned violence. Organizers explicitly called for peaceful protests and criticized politicians for focusing on potential disorder rather than young people’s demands.