Largely peaceful - riots in some cities

Better education, more climate protection and affordable housing - tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in many German cities to achieve this. The “Gen Z Rules” protests remained largely peaceful. D

Protests by “Gen Z regulates” Largely peaceful - riots in some cities As of: October 31, 2026 • 9:33 p.m

Tens of thousands of young people took to the streets in more than 30 cities and protested largely peacefully. The police union's balance sheet is still mixed, said Andreas Roßkopf, chairman of the federal police department, to the Rheinische Post.

After the actual events ended, the situation in some cities worsened. The groups that carried out the violence were “autonomous and partly masked people”. Where necessary, the police intervened very consistently and massively, said the trade unionist.

Tim Diedrichs, NDR, and Rupert Wiederwald, WDR, on the situation of the "GenZ" protests in the evening tagesschau, Das Erste, October 31, 2026 • 8:00 p.m. Injured police officers in Frankfurt In Frankfurt am Main, the police broke up a demonstration with several thousand participants after repeated firecrackers and stone throwing.

The police spoke of “massive riots” after the demo was broken up. There were stone throwing and attacks on police officers. According to initial findings from Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU), several police officers were injured. Around 100 disruptors “massively attacked” the police. Poseck told the Hessenschau that they had “targeted pyrotechnics.”

Water cannons were also used at times. The police have the situation under control, the Interior Minister said in the evening.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through downtown Frankfurt on the Gen Z protest day. more

There were also incidents during the protests in Cologne. According to information from WDR, the police decided to cancel the planned demonstration through the city at short notice due to pyrotechnics and masking by individual participants.

After the registered demonstration in Cologne was broken up, riots broke out. According to WDR, left-wing extremist and pro-Palestinian groups were mixed in with the peaceful demonstrators. Several hundred tried to get into the city center together. But they were stopped by the police.

Firecrackers kept flying and there were clashes with the police. They dispersed the crowd with several hundred people and two water cannons. An officer was injured in the hand and was unable to continue his duties, said a police spokesman. A demo participant was arrested. It is being investigated for a serious breach of the peace.

In Cologne, the police used water cannons against demonstrators.

The demonstration took place on a section of the banks of the Rhine. According to the police, around 600 demonstrators were detained there in the evening in one section and a further 100 in another section. Personal details are now being recorded little by little, the spokeswoman said.

The people who threw firecrackers and covered up were "probably left-wing radical groups who had more or less taken over the demonstration for themselves," reports WDR reporter Rupert Wiederwald from Cologne. At the beginning there were mainly very young people at the protest. In the end, “those who were left were those who wanted to hijack this demonstration for themselves and, unfortunately, it has to be said, they succeeded.”

The “Gen Z regulates” initiative called for nationwide protests today. more

In Hamburg, after a largely trouble-free course in the afternoon, the situation also got out of control towards the evening. Towards the end of the demonstration, people dressed in black and some of them masked set off pyrotechnics several times, tore construction site barriers from their anchorages and set them on fire.

The police intervened, dispersed the crowd and also used pepper spray against the demonstrators. The rally was then officially ended by the police. According to information from NDR, there were some arrests. “The police played quite a game of cat and mouse with the rioters here,” reported NDR reporter Tim Diedrichs from the main train station.

In Hanover, the demonstration was delayed because some protesters were wearing medical masks, the police said. Because of the ban on masking, they had to take them off.

During the elevator, smoke pots and pyrotechnics were ignited several times. After the meeting ended, two officers were pelted with firecrackers. According to police, one was slightly injured but was able to continue working.

Growing dissatisfaction and fears for the future: GenZ is protesting nationwide for better education, climate protection and more political participation. more

In Nuremberg, the police reported one person injured, possibly due to a firecracker being thrown. In addition, there was a group of people among the approximately 2,000 demonstrators that the police classified as violent. After the end of the demonstration, this block wanted to continue the procession, said a spokesman for the police in Nuremberg. The police reported that they had temporarily arrested around 100 people.

“One can no longer speak of a completely peaceful outcome,” said a police spokesman in Bremen. In the Hanseatic city, police forces were occasionally attacked with punches and kicks. At least one dumpster was set on fire.

In an interview, protest researcher Staudt explains why young people in Europe are protesting - and what politicians should do. more

The police ended a second demonstration in Berlin early. The reasons for this included throwing stones at police officers and setting off pyrotechnics, said a police spokeswoman.

According to police, around 700 people initially gathered at Rosenthaler Platz near the well-known Hackesche Höfe in the early evening. From there the demonstration moved towards Prenzlauer Berg. More and more people joined in; the police eventually said there were 3,000 participants.

The protest march is in the context of the nationwide youth protests, but is not part of the nationwide demos of the “Gen Z regulates” initiative. The organizer of the evening protest is classified by the police as belonging to the left-wing spectrum, and participants from the pro-Palestinian scene were also there.

At the “Gen Z regulates” event at the Brandenburg Gate in the afternoon, thousands of people demonstrated peacefully.

Peaceful protests were reported in many other places. In Munich, for example, there were some pyrotechnics, but the gathering with around 4,000 people was peaceful overall, according to a police spokesman.

The “Gen Z regulates” initiative itself has drawn a positive conclusion from the nationwide youth protests. "Today a hundred thousand people showed what they are taking to the streets for," said a spokesman for the initiative's press team, who only wants to appear publicly under his first name, Amadeo. There is currently no official confirmation of the number of participants.

Amadeo also distanced himself from the violence that occurred in the context of some demonstrations. “We had no influence on what happened after the rallies ended.”

With a view to the coming hours, Roßkopf from the police union says: "The emergency services now remain absolutely ready to prevent any further riots, including late in the evening or at night." All in all, the police have the situation well under control. “There has been no massive damage to property so far.”

The “Gen Z regulates” initiative called for peaceful protests. She calls for more money for schools, addiction help and psychotherapy, measures to combat rising living costs, for social justice and more climate protection. She also calls for affordable housing. She rejects possible conscription and also an expansion of state surveillance.