Gen Z protesters march across 30-plus German cities; Cologne march cancelled over masking violations

Youth protests organised by the initiative "Gen Z regelt" swept more than 30 German cities on Saturday, with demonstrations reported in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Mainz, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Erfurt, Magdeburg, Dresden and Leipzig, among others.

Police reported no major incidents at most locations. In Cologne, however, officers cancelled the planned march through the city after individual participants used pyrotechnics and covered their faces in violation of the ban on masking at demonstrations. Several thousand people had gathered on the Rhine embankment, though turnout was below the 15,000 registered participants.

In Berlin, approximately 5,000 people assembled at the Brandenburg Gate. The city deployed around 1,500 additional officers and used drones to monitor the crowds. Hamburg saw a march of several thousand through the city centre. Munich drew roughly 2,500 people outside the Ludwig Maximilian University. Frankfurt had more than 1,500 participants near the European Central Bank. Mainz reported 1,200, Freiburg 2,500 and Leipzig nearly 2,000.

More than 182,000 people had clicked to signal attendance on the initiative's website before the protests began, though officially registered expected numbers were substantially lower.

"Gen Z regelt" demands increased school funding, addiction support and psychotherapy provision, measures against rising living costs, social justice, climate protection, an end to military conscription and a halt to expanded state surveillance. In Stuttgart, police halted the march multiple times over masking and fireworks, appealing to participants to remain peaceful.

Greens parliamentary leader Katharina Dröge said young people were rightly angry that the federal government was not taking their concerns seriously enough. Left Party leader Luigi Pantisano backed the protests, citing planned pension and care reforms as "social cruelties". AfD leader Alice Weidel warned of the risk that left-wing extremists and Islamists could infiltrate the marches.