Looting in Frankfurt After Youth Protests Across Germany

A day of mostly calm protests over the cost of living in Germany turned violent after dark on Saturday. In Frankfurt, rioters looted shops, and clashes broke out in three other cities.

Peaceful marches, then clashes

Thousands joined demonstrations earlier in the day. The campaign group Gen Z regelt, which means "Gen Z takes charge", organised them. Its demands cover underfunded schools, the high cost of living, public spending cuts and military service.

Spokesperson Lina Friedrich said the priority is better support for health and education systems. The group opposes compulsory military service and wants the burden shared more fairly.

Authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin counted as many as 18,000 protesters, about half the organisers' own estimate. German media say tens of thousands marched across the country.

Frankfurt after dark

Police in Frankfurt spoke of violent riots in the city centre and called in special units. Shop windows were smashed, and molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency services. Officers seized two weapons after arresting a suspect at a gun shop whose windows had been smashed. Other shops were broken into, and trainers were among the stolen goods.

A large section of the main shopping street was closed overnight. Police say many people were arrested. Things calmed down by Sunday.

Roman Poseck, interior minister of the state of Hesse, said around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists had infiltrated the protest. He called the way it ended "shameful".

Other German cities

Police in Cologne said bottles were thrown at officers near the main station and a bicycle was launched at them. The city's police chief, Johannes Hermanns, said it was saddening that young people who wanted to demonstrate peacefully had been infiltrated by extremists.

A smaller evening protest in Berlin left 27 police officers injured and up to 56 people briefly detained. In Hamburg, a group in dark clothes lit fireworks and burned barricades, and broadcaster NDR reported 120 arrests. Police in several cities used water cannons.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Bild that overnight police had prevented violence like that seen in Paris in recent weeks. He called for harsh punishments for rioters and looters.

A wider European pattern

In France, more than 320,000 people marched on Saturday in a third consecutive weekend of largely peaceful protests over living costs and weakened public services, schools above all. More than 770 people were arrested, roughly half the number a week earlier, according to the interior ministry. A police officer was hurt by a molotov cocktail, and prosecutors opened an attempted murder inquiry.

Protest organisers in France say dozens of demonstrators were seriously hurt in recent weeks, many by what they call "grenades". After a 15-year-old lost a hand, France suspended one type of stun grenade in early October. Le Monde has reported that police kept using a different model.

There were also clashes in Rome and Turin, and police in Portugal cleared a new tent camp set up after a march against a rental bill. Mostly young protesters have been out in France, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Serbia and Albania. Their demands differ, but housing, education and public services come up in most of them.

Our View

Officials in Hesse and Cologne draw a line between peaceful marchers and violent outsiders. Whether that holds depends on who the arrested people turn out to be, and that is not yet known. A second question is whether German authorities respond with the "harsh punishments" Dobrindt wants, or with changes that address the schools and living-cost complaints raised in the marches.

Source: BBC News