German police fired a water cannon to disperse firework-hurling protesters on Saturday and were also pelted with other projectiles, as tensions rose at the end of massive youth-led protests.

In Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and dozens of other cities, demonstrators turned out for the protests organised by the group ‘GenZ regelt!’ (GenZ has got this), the latest by disillusioned youth in Europe.

Thousands of police were deployed across the country and, after mostly peaceful demonstrations, tensions rose in the evening in some places.

In the western city of Cologne, where one of the biggest demonstrations took place, police fired a water cannon to disperse a crowd after saying protesters had targeted officers with fireworks.

“We will not tolerate violence against emergency workers,” said a police statement.

Earlier, a march through the city was halted after demonstrators started setting off fireworks. A march was also temporarily halted in Frankfurt after protesters set off fireworks.

In Berlin, protesters hurled bottles and eggs while protesters set barricades ablaze in Hamburg, and police were using pepper spray on demonstrators in some places, Germany’s daily Bild reported.

Demonstrators had earlier taken to the streets waving signs that read “Time for resistance” and “Merz must go”, in reference to conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

They have been inspired by similar movements across Europe, including in France and Italy.

Europe-wide protests

“We’re taking to the streets for a life that everyone can afford,” said Veronika Dinter, a spokeswoman for the “GenZ regelt!” movement. “Hardly anyone still believes in a better future if everything just continues as it is.”

The movement’s complaints range from the high cost of living to poorly maintained schools, government spending cuts and, more broadly, what it sees as politicians making decisions with apparently little regard for the younger generation.

They are also unhappy with sharply increased military spending and a new voluntary service model aimed at boosting troop numbers, fearing it is a step towards bringing back conscription.

Several thousand demonstrators turned out in Cologne while the figure was around 5,000 in Berlin and 8,000 in Frankfurt, according to police.

There were also sizeable gatherings in other parts of the country, although the numbers were below the 170,000 nationwide that organisers had hoped for.

Authorities have been worried the protests, coinciding with Halloween, could be marred by the same kind of violence seen elsewhere in Europe.

Protests were also taking place in France for a third straight weekend.

Nationwide demonstrations there on Oct 17 degenerated into some of the country’s worst rioting in years.

Berlin is in contact with officials in France and Italy amid fears that radicals from overseas could seek to join the German protests.

But prior to the protests, authorities said that they had not seen evidence of concrete plans for violence. The “GenZ regelt!” movement explicitly rejects violence.

It stresses that “extremist groups, anti-constitutional symbols, racism and hate speech have no place with us — no matter from which side”.

Christian Volk, an expert in protest movements, said there was the potential to see a major movement emerge in Germany.

But Volk, from Berlin’s Humboldt University, told AFP there were key differences with France, which has a “completely different tradition when it comes to confrontational forms of protest”.