Riots, looting and attacks on police broke out in several German cities after protests by tens of thousands of young people across the country demanding better schools, relief from rising living costs and greater social justice — DW reports.
Police officers were attacked on the square outside the famous cathedral in Cologne, with bottles and bicycles hurled toward them. In a nearby side street, a window was smashed by an electric scooter thrown during the unrest, police said.
In Frankfurt rioters smashed shop windows, looted stores and attacked officers following a demonstration. Police closed Die Zeil, one of Germany’s busiest shopping streets, to incoming visitors and urged bystanders to leave the area. Chaotic scenes unfolded along the shopping street, where dpa journalists witnessed people breaking into stores and stealing trainers and other goods. A specialist firearms shop was also targeted, prompting several arrests, a police spokesman said.
In Hamburg protesters at the city’s Steintor square pelted the police with fireworks. Police used “immediate force” to clear the area, including using a water cannon.
In Berlin, the authorities noted a rally separate from the official event organized by the Gen Z movement. Police initially reported “isolated instances of throwing eggs and bottles” from a crowd of around 500 people. The authorities later also reported “illegal burning of pyrotechnics” and said the crowd had grown to around 3,000 participants.
Protests continue across France as 320,000 people take to the streets over rising living costs and poor school conditions for a third consecutive weekend, with clashes reported in several cities.
“The marches proceeded smoothly within the framework of the declared demonstrations,” the ministry said, while noting that “radical elements” in several cities, including Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseille, had attempted to enter city centres “with the aim of carrying out vandalism and looting.”
In Marseille, footage showed fires burning in the streets as firefighters responded. Clashes with police were also reported in Rennes and Toulouse.
After a largely peaceful start to the day, police fired tear gas in Paris and Lyon in the late afternoon, according to French media reports and live broadcast footage. Tensions in the capital escalated as demonstrators reached the end of their march on the city’s southern outskirts.
