Political leaders from the Greens and the radical left affirmed their support on Sunday for young people, while condemning the violence that occurred on the sidelines of the demonstrations on Saturday. The government, for its part, accused “left-wing groups prone to violence” of being responsible for the excesses.

Published on: 01/11/2026 - 18:19

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Distance ourselves from violence, without overshadowing the demands of young people. Several political leaders, notably from the Greens and the radical left, condemned on Sunday November 1 the violence that occurred on Saturday on the sidelines of the demonstrations of the collective "GenZ regelt" ("Generation Z takes care of it") in Germany, while at the same time emphasizing the need to respond to the concerns of the demonstrators.

Nearly 120,000 took to the streets across the country to denounce the poverty of schools, the rising cost of living, the possible reintroduction of military service and climate change.

“Neither the crisis of purchasing power, nor the social dismantling, nor the widely shared desire to demonstrate peacefully will disappear because small groups of frustrated people subsequently engaged in acts of vandalism,” declared the president of the radical left party Die Linke, Ines Schwerdtner, to the daily Rheinische Post.

The leader of the Greens, Franziska Brantner, for her part condemned excesses which "harm the legitimate cause of the many people who demonstrated peacefully", while calling on the government to respond to the message "could not be clearer" sent by the youth.

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On Saturday, the demonstrations organized in dozens of cities took place generally calmly before tensions erupted in the evening.

In Frankfurt, between 1,000 and 1,500 people clashed with police, with masked rioters ransacking several businesses and looting some, Interior Minister for the Hesse region Roman Poseck said at a press conference on Sunday.

In total, 54 people were arrested, aged 13 to 29, “mostly of German nationality”.

“Well over 100 police officers were injured, including one seriously who lost teeth after stones were thrown in the face,” added Roman Poseck.

“Left-wing groups” accused

These “excesses of violence” are “totally unacceptable”, reacted on X Boris Rhein, Minister-President of Hesse.

Violence also erupted in other cities in Germany, such as Cologne and Hamburg. In Berlin, the authorities reported "numerous crimes" leading to 56 arrests and 27 police officers lightly injured.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) told the tabloid Bild that “violent outbursts like those which took place in Paris” could “be avoided”.

He accused "left-wing groups prone to violence and troublemakers from the migrant community" of having "hijacked the peaceful demonstrations of the afternoon", calling for "severe sanctions" against those responsible.

The co-president of the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party also pointed to “left-wing extremism” and “uncontrolled migration” at X.

In a post on Instagram, the “GenZ regelt” collective “expressly distanced itself from any form of violence”. On his website, he called late in the morning to mobilize again on November 14, before deleting the message a few hours later.

With AFP

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