More than 100 police officers have been injured and 54 people arrested after rioting erupted in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital and home of the European Central Bank, following a day of youth-led protests across the country.
Roman Poseck, interior minister of the state of Hesse, told a press conference on November 1 that police estimated they had faced between 1,000 and 1,500 violent troublemakers, most of them from a migrant background. He said those detained, aged between 13 and 29, were predominantly German nationals.
One officer was seriously hurt, losing teeth after being struck in the face by a stone, according to the minister. Up to 1,300 officers were deployed at the height of the disturbances, while 17 shops were damaged and five looted.
The violence followed demonstrations on October 31 called by the campaign group Gen Z regelt (Gen Z takes charge) in around 30 German cities over school funding and the cost of living. In Frankfurt, some 8,000 to 9,000 people marched largely peacefully, German news agency dpa reported.
The mood turned as night fell. Police said they were pelted with fireworks, stones, bottles and petrol bombs and dissolved the march at about 6.20pm, after which shop windows were smashed and barricades set alight in the city centre, public broadcaster ZDF reported.
Frankfurt police chief Stefan Müller said officers had been attacked continuously and without restraint by groups large and small. Firefighters and paramedics were also targeted.
Police recorded 87 criminal complaints and carried out 366 identity checks. According to the police, only a small share of the rioters came from Frankfurt itself, with suspects travelling from elsewhere in Hesse and from neighbouring states.
Poseck said border controls had been tightened ahead of the protests amid concerns that extremist groups from abroad could use them to stir up riots. He pledged tough consequences for those responsible.
Gen Z regelt, which presents itself as acting in solidarity with French school protesters, had insisted its demonstrations would be peaceful without exception.
German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt has blamed left-wing groups and troublemakers from a migrant milieu for the riots in Frankfurt and Cologne, according to Der Tagesspiegel. On October 19 he had warned that left-wing extremists and migrant circles were joining forces on the streets against the democratic system.
The scenes echoed those in France, where nearly 2,400 people were arrested on October 17 alone and close to 1,000 police officers and gendarmes injured. The French movement has since drawn in a network of communist organisations and trade unions.
Student and socialist groups in several EU member states have called an International Youth Strike for November 20, which organisers said would include walkouts, blockades and occupations.
