Thousands rally in Berlin as Gen Z plans protests in 30 German cities

Demonstrations sweeping Europe are inspiring young Germans frustrated by rising costs of living amid military spending and conscription.

Phil Tziartzianis travelled 8 hours to join his friend Jan Chrominski and other protesters in Berlin on Saturday [Giulio Ferracuti/Al Jazeera]

Berlin, Germany – Thousands of people are gathering in Berlin and more than 30 other German cities as the nation becomes the latest European country to be hit by a wave of student protests sweeping the continent.

Gathering at the Platz des 18 Maerz, on the west side of the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate on a sunny but chilly Saturday afternoon, there was support for the young people within a mixed demographic crowd.

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Anti-fascist activists smoking hand-rolled cigarettes and wearing keffiyehs waited patiently alongside students dressed in Halloween outfits, smartly dressed grandmothers donning “omas gegen rechts” (grandmothers against the right) badges, and camera crews, ahead of the 2pm (13:00 GMT) rally start.

The protests were organised by a loose alliance called Gen Z Regelt (Gen Z sorts it), and by Saturday morning, nearly 180,000 people across 34 cities had signed up to participate – with the main host cities including Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and the capital Berlin.

Nearly 12,000 people had signed up to join in the German capital, and people were continuing to stream into the square well into the demonstration to listen to speakers in what was so far a calm afternoon in the capital.

However, at a rally in the western city of Cologne, scuffles broke out between protesters and police, who moved in to contain a march there.

The protest organisers had outlined six key issues that took them to the streets on Saturday, including the rising cost of living, education cuts and military conscription.

Student Veronika Dinter says she is angry that the government is increasing military spending even as it makes cuts to other areas like education [Giulio Ferracuti/Al Jazeera]

‘Political failure’ of government

Students told Al Jazeera that they are both angry and frustrated by ongoing funding cuts, even as the government invests heavily in the military.

Yet they also said they feel a sense of hope after seeing student protests in different parts of Europe in recent weeks.

Veronika Dinter travelled to Berlin on Friday night from Hannover to participate in the protest.

The 23-year-old political science student said that due to high living costs, she had to take on a part-time job to fund her studies.

“I wanted to start studying to develop critical thinking and learn something new, but I didn’t realise how much it would cost to do so. I think this is something a lot of people in my generation are experiencing right now,” she said.

“Funding for education and social services are being cut, while the cost of living keeps rising. Universities are struggling, institutes are closing, teachers are losing their jobs and education facilities are literally falling apart.

“This crisis is the political failure of our government. And instead of solving it, Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his rich friends are funding the military with billions of euros.”

This is a sentiment that Emma Heymann, a 24-year-old student living in Berlin, resonated with.

“Our generation feels very angry at the government because they are making these huge cuts that are affecting our quality of life here. And at the same time, they are spending billions on the military and spending money to fund the genocide in Gaza,” she said.

Emma Heymann says her generation feels very angry about the way the government is impacting their quality of life [Giulio Ferracuti/Al Jazeera]

Protesters should be ‘listened to’

Phil Tziartzianis travelled eight hours from his hometown of Kassel to join his friend Jan Chrominski and other young people at the demonstration.

“It feels important for me to be here among other young people who feel the same way,” he said.

The protesters join a wave of demonstrations that have swept across Europe in recent weeks, including in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Serbia.

Kilian Hampel is a senior research fellow at the Future of Work Lab at the University of Konstanz. He says other demonstrations are having an impact on young Germans.

“The frustration itself has been building for years, but this is definitely part of a wave we are seeing across Europe, and young people here are feeling that they can actually take their worries and problems to the streets,” he said. “Many of their concerns, in particular around poor educational infrastructure, are legitimate, and it’s important that they are listened to.”

The Berlin demonstration is expected to last two hours, with another one organised by a different alliance, planned at 5:30pm (16:30 GMT) in a different part of the German capital.

In the past week, political figures have raised concerns about the protests turning violent.

Yet demonstrators say they see the narrative of violence distracting from the issues they want to raise.

“We urge the police to not confront our demonstrations with any kind of violence,” Dinter, the student from Hannover, said.

“We stand in solidarity with all the people around the world who are fighting for an affordable life, for more investment in the education system, and against wars and military buildup.”

席卷欧洲的示威游行激励着因军费开支和征兵制度导致生活成本上涨而感到沮丧的德国年轻人。

菲尔·齐亚尔齐亚尼斯（Phil Tziartzianis）周六花了8个小时前往柏林，与​​他的朋友扬·克罗明斯基（Jan Chrominski）和其他抗议者会合。[朱利奥·费拉库蒂/半岛电视台]

德国柏林——随着席卷欧洲大陆的学生抗议浪潮席卷欧洲，成千上万的人聚集在柏林和德国其他 30 多个城市。

在一个阳光明媚但略带寒意的周六下午，人们聚集在首都标志性建筑勃兰登堡门西侧的3月18日广场，来自不同年龄段的人群中，有不少人支持年轻人。

法国严阵以待，应对万圣节抗议活动中可能发生的“极高风险”骚乱（共3条，第1条）

意大利各地数千人抗议生活成本和军费开支（共3条，此为第2条）

列表 3/3：印度某大学发生抗议活动，该校 20 年来未举行学生会选举

反法西斯活动人士抽着手卷香烟，戴着阿拉伯头巾，与穿着万圣节服装的学生、穿着得体、佩戴着“奶奶反对右翼”徽章的奶奶们以及摄像人员一​​起，耐心地等待着下午 2 点（格林尼治标准时间 13:00）的集会开始。

抗议活动由一个名为 Gen Z Regelt（Z 世代解决）的松散联盟组织，截至周六上午，已有来自 34 个城市的近 18 万人报名参加，主要主办城市包括法兰克福、科隆、慕尼黑和首都柏林。

近 12,000 人报名参加了在德国首都举行的示威活动，在首都迄今为止平静的下午，人们仍然源源不断地涌入广场，聆听演讲者的讲话。

然而，在西部城市科隆的一次集会上，抗议者和警察之间爆发了冲突，警察介入控制了那里的游行。

抗议组织者列出了六个关键问题，这些问题促使他们在周六走上街头，包括生活成本上涨、教育经费削减和兵役征召。

学生维罗妮卡·丁特表示，她很生气政府一边削减教育等其他领域的开支，一边却增加军费开支。[朱利奥·费拉库蒂/半岛电视台]

政府的“政治失败”

学生们告诉半岛电视台，他们对持续的经费削减感到愤怒和沮丧，尽管政府在军事方面投入巨资。

但他们也表示，看到最近几周欧洲各地爆发的学生抗议活动，他们感到充满希望。

维罗妮卡·丁特于周五晚上从汉诺威前往柏林参加抗议活动。

这位23岁的政治学系学生表示，由于生活成本高昂，她不得不找一份兼职工作来资助自己的学业。

“我原本想通过学习来培养批判性思维，学习一些新知识，但我没想到这会花费这么多钱。我觉得我们这一代人现在很多人都面临着同样的问题，”她说。

“教育和社会服务的经费被削减，而生活成本却不断上涨。大学举步维艰，研究所纷纷倒闭，教师失业，教育设施也日渐破败。”

“这场危机是我们政府的政治失败。而总理弗里德里希·默茨和他的富豪朋友们非但没有解决问题，反而用数十亿欧元资助军方。”

住在柏林的24岁学生艾玛·海曼对此深有同感。

“我们这一代人对政府感到非常愤怒，因为他们大幅削减开支，影响了我们的生活质量。与此同时，他们却在军费上花费数十亿美元，还花钱资助加沙的种族灭绝，”她说。

艾玛·海曼表示，她这一代人对政府影响他们生活质量的方式感到非常愤怒。[朱利奥·费拉库蒂/半岛电视台]

应该“倾听”抗议者的声音

菲尔·齐亚尔齐亚尼斯从家乡卡塞尔驱车八小时，与他的朋友扬·克罗明斯基和其他年轻人一起参加了示威游行。

他说：“能和其他有相同感受的年轻人在一起，我觉得很重要。”

抗议者加入了近几周席卷欧洲的示威浪潮，法国、比利时、意大利、西班牙和塞尔维亚等国都爆发了示威活动。

基利安·汉佩尔是康斯坦茨大学未来工作实验室的高级研究员。他表示，其他示威活动也对德国年轻人产生了影响。

他说：“这种不满情绪已经积聚多年，但这无疑是我们在欧洲各地看到的一股浪潮的一部分，这里的年轻人感到他们终于可以把自己的忧虑和问题带到街头来表达出来。他们的许多担忧，特别是关于教育基础设施薄弱的问题，都是合理的，倾听他们的声音至关重要。”

柏林示威活动预计将持续两个小时，而另一个联盟计划于下午 5:30（格林尼治标准时间 16:30）在德国首都的另一个地区组织另一场示威活动。

过去一周，一些政治人物对示威活动演变成暴力事件表示担忧。

但示威者表示，他们认为暴力叙事分散了人们对他们想要提出的问题的注意力。

“我们敦促警方不要以任何形式的暴力手段对抗我们的示威活动，”来自汉诺威的学生丁特尔说道。

“我们与世界各地所有为争取负担得起的生活、为加大教育投入、为反对战争和军事扩张而奋斗的人们站在一起。”