By Kai Pfaffenbach, Tilman Blasshofer and Miranda Murray
FRANKFURT/BERLIN, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Hooded rioters looted stores in Frankfurt late on Saturday after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Germany's biggest cities to demand better education and lower living costs.
The protests followed a wave of Gen Z-led demonstrations across Europe this year. In Serbia, student-led activism helped unseat the country's longtime leader at the ballot box, while protests in France have descended into rioting and looting.
The German protests organised by the campaign group "Gen Z regelt" — "Gen Z takes charge" in German — took place in 34 cities including Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. The group says it opposes compulsory military service and wants greater investment in education as many young Germans struggle with rising costs.
In Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub, at least two stores were looted as protests turned violent, with several more damaged and police trying to get the situation under control, according to a Reuters witness.
"Violent disturbances are continuing," Frankfurt police said on X. "In the city centre, windows have been smashed at several shops. Molotov cocktails are also being thrown at the emergency services. We urge all bystanders to avoid the city centre or to leave the area."
Official numbers on Saturday afternoon suggested turnout was below the 182,000 participants that organisers initially expected. Police in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin reported as many as 18,000 protesters, half the roughly 36,000 on the organisers' website.
German authorities said Saturday's demonstrations, which coincide with Halloween festivities, had been largely peaceful, but warned of attempts by extremist groups to exploit the movement.
In Hamburg, some barricades had been set on fire.
"We are here today to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion," Gen Z regelt spokesperson Lina Friedrich said in Berlin on Saturday.
"What matters most to us is better support for the health and education systems. We are against compulsory military service and we are in favour of a fairer distribution of the burden."
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Parts of Germany's far-left extremist scene and some groups linked to foreign extremist movements have joined efforts to mobilise support, according to the federal interior ministry.
"We all have those images from France in our minds — looting, burning houses, burning police vehicles, and attacks on police officers," said Roman Poseck, interior minister for the state of Hesse, whose capital is Germany's financial hub, Frankfurt.
"France must not be held up as a model in this regard."
Some businesses across German cities boarded up windows and planned early closures ahead of the demonstrations due to concerns over possible unrest, including along Berlin's luxury Kurfuerstendamm shopping boulevard.
Organisers have focused on what they see as the growing pressure on younger generations in Europe's largest economy.
"The government has offered no response to our concerns other than to continue making cuts and piling further burdens upon us," said Steve, an 18-year-old due to speak at a rally in Munich, addressing Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"We will continue to exercise our fundamental right to assemble until you stop ignoring us."
Germany has struggled to revive economic growth. The country also faces growing pressure on pensions and public services as baby boomers retire and the working-age population shrinks.
Questions have been raised about who is driving the campaign and whether it is genuinely youth-led, given the broad mix of political and civil society groups involved.
Germany's national school student umbrella organisation, BSK, has distanced itself from the initiative and plans to hold a separate day of protest on November 20.
Sean Baker, a student at the Technical University of Berlin, said he would join the protests on Saturday to call attention to the poor state of buildings on campus.
"When you go inside and enter the rooms, it looks like an abandoned building," he told Reuters. "Yet this is where we're expected to study on a regular basis."
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, Timm Reichert, Tilman Blasshofer, Stephan Schepers and Martin Schlicht; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Ros Russell, Joe Bavier, Alex Richardson and David Gregorio)
