Tens of thousands of young people demonstrated on Saturday in several German cities, answering the call of the youth collective GenZ regelt. According to reports from the broadcaster France 24, the marches were organized to demand greater investments in public education and to contest the high cost of living, state spending cuts, and the increase in defense expenditures.

During the day, the parades took place in a calm and participatory atmosphere, but tensions increased considerably in the evening when some groups refused to disperse. In Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Cologne, security forces resorted to water cannons and pepper spray to disperse protesters, in response to the throwing of fireworks, stones, and bottles.

Unrest also occurred in Leipzig and Berlin, where an evening procession not organized by the main collective targeted officers with bottles and eggs. Several police officers suffered injuries, including an officer in Bonn, while authorities confirmed they carried out several arrests across the national territory.

According to the organizers, the demonstrations mobilized a total of approximately one hundred and twenty thousand people nationwide. The promoting collective condemned the use of violence and extremism, while the police union told the newspaper Rheinische Post that the evening interventions nonetheless prevented extensive damage to commercial properties.