Rioters loot Frankfurt shops after German cost-of-living marches

Rioters broke into shops on Frankfurt's main shopping street on Saturday night and police used water cannon against crowds in Cologne, Berlin and Hamburg, after daytime protests against living costs and school funding drew thousands across Germany.

The marches were organised by Gen Z regelt, which translates as Gen Z takes charge. The group campaigns against underfunded schools, public spending cuts and compulsory military service. They came on the same day as a third consecutive weekend of protests in France, where the interior ministry said more than 320,000 people demonstrated.

Frankfurt police said "violent riots" broke out in the city centre and special units were deployed. Shop windows were smashed along the Zeil, the main shopping street, and Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency workers. Police said a gun shop was broken into, two weapons were seized and a suspect arrested. Euronews reported that more than 1,000 officers, water cannon, armoured vehicles and a helicopter were deployed in the city, and that more than 30 people were held temporarily.

Roman Poseck, interior minister of Hesse state, said around 100 "clearly identified left-wing extremists" had infiltrated the Frankfurt demonstration and called the way it ended "shameful".

Accounts of crowd size differ. The BBC reported that authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin counted up to 18,000 protesters, about half the number organisers had posted on their website. Euronews put the Frankfurt crowd at around 8,000 before the violence.

Arrest figures also vary. Berlin police said 27 officers were injured and up to 56 people were temporarily detained, the BBC reported; Euronews, citing the same force, said almost 60 people were arrested. In Hamburg, public broadcaster NDR reported about 120 arrests after groups dressed in black set off fireworks and set barricades alight. About 1,300 officers were on duty, Euronews reported.

Cologne police said officers were attacked near the main station with bottles and a bicycle, and that one officer suffered a hand injury and could not continue on duty. The city's police chief, Johannes Hermanns, said it was "deeply saddening that young people who wanted to peacefully demonstrate for their future were infiltrated today by extremists who had nothing but violence in mind".

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Bild newspaper that police had prevented overnight "violence like that seen in Paris" and called for "harsh punishments" for rioters and looters. Euronews reported that he blamed "left-wing groups and troublemakers from a migrant background".

A spokesperson for Gen Z regelt, Lina Friedrich, said the demonstrations were held "to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion". She said the group wanted better support for health and education, opposed compulsory military service and sought a fairer distribution of the burden.

In France, the interior ministry said more than 770 people were arrested on Saturday, about half the figure from the previous weekend. France 24 reported that riot police fired tear gas in Paris and small fires broke out, with similar scenes in Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseille, though the day was calmer than 17 October. The BBC reported that Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said an officer was injured by a Molotov cocktail and prosecutors opened an attempted murder investigation.