Frankfurt Riots
Rioters loot and burn in Frankfurt as German youths protest living costs and mandatory military service.
Frankfurt's financial district burned Saturday night as rioters smashed storefronts and looted shops while tens of thousands marched across Germany against living costs and plans to revive compulsory military service.
At least two stores in the district were looted and several more damaged, a Reuters witness told Arab News and the Korea Times. Looters also stole weapons from a gun store before police recovered them, CBS News reported.
Gen Z regelt, or "Gen Z takes charge," organized the protests, pulling crowds into more than 30 cities including Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, NBC News reported. The group wants more spending on schools, health care, climate measures and housing. It opposes bringing back the draft.
"We are here today to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion," Gen Z regelt spokesperson Lina Friedrich told crowds in Berlin, according to NBC News. "What matters most to us is better support for the health and education systems."
Frankfurt police posted on X that windows were smashed at several shops and that Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency crews. They urged bystanders to clear the city center. Hesse interior minister Roman Poseck said roughly 100 "left-wing extremist" instigators attacked officers with bottles, stones and fireworks, GB News reported. Several officers were hurt, one possibly seriously.
Weeks of rioting in France preceded Saturday's unrest. Student protests over education costs there had spread into broader demonstrations in Paris and Marseille, NBC News reported. Poseck warned that the images from France, including burning vehicles and attacks on police, should not become a model for Germany.
Organizers had expected as many as 182,000 participants nationwide. Saturday fell short. Police counted about 18,000 protesters combined across Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, roughly half the number organizers had posted online.
Germany is grappling with weak economic growth and rising pressure on pensions and public services as its working-age population shrinks, the Korea Times reported. Steve, an 18-year-old who addressed a rally in Munich, said organizers would keep pressing Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "We will continue to exercise our fundamental right to assemble until you stop ignoring us," he told the Korea Times.