Violence after Germany's 'Gen Z' demos slammed by politicians

Violence after Germany's 'Gen Z' demos slammed by politicians Estelle.Bronkhorst Mon, 11/02/2026 - 12:00

BERLIN - Multiple German politicians on Sunday criticised clashes and looting the day before on the margins of youth-led demonstrations, though several also warned that the acts should not eclipse the protesters' demands.

Such "violent acts" were "totally unacceptable", the minister-president for the state of Hesse, Boris Rhein, said on X.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, speaking to the Bild daily, blamed the unrest on "leftist groups inclined to violence and troublemakers from migrant communities".

He said, however, that he viewed the disturbances as less severe "than those that took place in Paris".

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people participated in the protests organised by the group "GenZ regelt!" (Gen Z has got this!) to demand attention to youth priorities, ranging from the cost of living to education spending and budget cuts.

On the sidelines, masked rioters looted shops in Frankfurt, and violence broke out in major cities including Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg. Police fired water cannons at youths hurling Molotov cocktails.

The demonstrations were inspired by similar movements in France and Italy.

The head of Germany's far-left Die Linke (The Left) party, Ines Schwerdtner, told the Rheinische Post daily that the demands made by those "demonstrating peacefully will not disappear because small angry groups followed up with acts of vandalism".

The co-head of the Greens party, Franziska Brantner, criticised the violence, which she told the same outlet "harmed the legitimate cause of many people who demonstrated peacefully".

The far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party blamed left-wing "extremism" and "uncontrolled migration" for the violence.

The "Gen Z regelt!" movement said on its website that it was calling for fresh demonstrations on November 14, calling them "just the start".

• AFP