Thousands of young people demonstrated across 34 German cities on October 31, calling for action on living costs, education and military recruitment. The protests, organised under the slogan “Gen Z regelt,” or “Gen Z takes charge,” were largely peaceful during the marches, although clashes and property damage were reported after some events.
Participants gathered in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne and numerous other cities. Organisers said young people faced declining educational conditions and an increasingly unaffordable future. Some speakers also opposed Germany’s renewed military recruitment drive and called for Chancellor Friedrich Merz to leave office. No authoritative nationwide turnout figure was immediately available.
In Hamburg, police estimated that 6,700 people joined the demonstration. Officers reported that some black-clad and masked participants dismantled construction barriers, placed them in roads and set some on fire. Police used pepper spray to disperse groups and later deployed a water cannon after fireworks were thrown.
Berlin police said about 5,000 people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, while organisers claimed 10,000. Authorities also monitored a separate gathering that grew to around 3,000 people and reported isolated throwing of objects and illegal pyrotechnics. The differing figures reflect estimates from police and organisers rather than a reconciled count.
The most serious disorder was reported in central Frankfurt after the formal demonstration. Police sealed the Zeil shopping street when people smashed windows, entered shops and attacked officers. A firearms shop was among the premises targeted, according to police. Hesse Interior Minister Roman Poseck said several officers were injured and estimated that about 100 attackers were involved. Police used water cannons and made arrests.
In Cologne, police stopped a planned procession after some participants covered their faces and used pyrotechnics, converting it into a stationary rally. A police officer was lightly injured in nearby Bonn, and authorities reported other limited confrontations around the country.
Andreas Rosskopf, a senior police union representative, said the demonstrations overall had been peaceful and attributed later confrontations to independently acting individuals, including masked groups. That distinction is important: reports of violence did not describe the conduct of the broad protest movement.
The German demonstrations formed part of a wider wave of youth mobilisation in Europe. Their scale showed that concerns about education, prices and military policy had reached cities nationwide. The disorder that followed some marches prompted a heavy police response, but it did not erase the largely orderly character of the daytime events described by authorities.
