Frankfurt riots after Gen Z protests split German ministers over who is to blame

Protests and night violence

Gen Z regelt organised demonstrations in more than 30 German cities on Saturday, 31 October. Authorities said tens of thousands of people took part, and the rallies were largely peaceful during the day. After dark, clashes broke out in several cities, especially Frankfurt and Cologne, while police also reported disturbances in Hamburg. In Berlin, some participants threw bottles and fireworks, and police used water cannon in certain locations. The group says it opposes compulsory military service and wants more investment in education, and it protests rising living costs.

Interior minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) condemned the violence and said the people responsible would be identified and held to account. He praised the large police deployment, which he said kept the violence from spreading further. He told reporters on Sunday what he expected from the courts.

“I expect there to be severe penalties.”

Frankfurt: damage, injuries and arrests

Hesse's interior minister Roman Poseck (CDU) gave a press conference on Sunday, 1 November, with the Frankfurt figures. Hooded rioters damaged 17 shops in the financial hub, and five of them were looted. Police deployed 1,300 officers, and Poseck said more than 100 were injured in the clashes. Police arrested 54 people aged between 13 and 29, and Poseck said most of them were German nationals. Frankfurt police president Stefan Müller spoke of a new dimension of violence and called the evening a "Zäsur" for the force. Special operations units were called in after a weapons shop was looted.

Poseck said police estimated that between 1,000 and 1,500 violent troublemakers were involved, predominantly from an immigrant background, and he added:

“I am shocked by what I have seen and there is no point in sugar-coating it. Let me make this very clear: Things cannot go on like this.”

Police officers deployed1,300

People arrested54

Shops damaged17

Shops looted5

Police officers deployed

1300

People arrested

54

Shops damaged

17

Shops looted

5

Data from the article text

Dispute over who is to blame

Dobrindt blamed violent left-wing groups and what he called migrant troublemakers for taking over peaceful marches in the evening. He said the people involved were not pupils and thanked the student movements for distancing themselves from the violence. The Irish Independent reported that he did not provide evidence for the claim or name the groups that joined the demonstrations. Poseck said the violence first came from left-wing extremists and later mainly from migrant youths, and that the assembly leaders had lost control of the gatherings.

Pistorius, the SPD defence minister, distanced himself from Dobrindt on ZDF's Berlin direkt. He said he did not know whether the description was accurate and could not verify the facts quickly. He asked what migrant groups meant in practice, including people living in Germany in the third generation who hold German citizenship, and he said:

“Where do we stop differentiating? I think that leads in the wrong direction.”

Pistorius also called the people involved criminals rather than rioters, and said whoever was responsible had to be punished.

What comes next

Poseck said on ARD's Tagesthemen on Sunday evening that authorities would now have to assess whether similar demonstrations planned for late November could be allowed at all, stressing that peacefulness is essential. Organisers have announced they want to continue their protest on 20 November. Dobrindt said the perpetrators would be identified and held to account for the offence of riot. He also said attempts had been made to bring this form of illegal protest from France to Germany, and that border checks were meant to keep extremist groups from abroad out.