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Nearly 175,000 people have registered for demonstrations across Germany on Saturday, as students prepare to protest social spending cuts, plans to bring back military conscription and rising living costs, according to organizers.
The nationwide protests, organized by a new youth initiative called Gen Z Regelt, meaning "Gen Z handles it," are expected to draw tens of thousands of participants to more than 30 cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne.
The group, made up of high school and university students, is also calling for greater education funding and stronger government action on the cost-of-living and climate crises.
Organizers have emphasized that the demonstrations will be peaceful and that they reject violence.
Germany's opposition Greens and Left Party have thrown their support behind the demonstrations, arguing that the government has failed to take young people's concerns seriously.
Katharina Droege, co-chair of the Greens' parliamentary group, called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz to meet youth representatives and address their demands.
"The chancellor should listen to the criticism of young people and take their concerns seriously," Droege told local media.
Left Party co-chair Luigi Pantisano also backed peaceful demonstrations, criticizing what he described as attempts by right-wing political and media figures to discredit the protests.
"For us it is clear: we stand in solidarity with the young people," he said.
However, the protests have also faced questions over their organization. Germany's largest student organization, BSK, and the Jusos, the youth wing of the center-left Social Democrats, withdrew their initial support last week, citing a lack of transparency about who was organizing the demonstrations.
Both groups raised concerns about the initiative's loose online structure and difficulties contacting organizers.
German authorities have stepped up security ahead of Saturday's demonstrations, with police preparing for possible unrest in several cities.
Businesses in central Berlin, Frankfurt and Cologne have begun boarding up storefronts, including several luxury retailers.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, approximately 44,000 people registered to participate in demonstrations, prompting heightened security measures.
Police in Duesseldorf arrested four men Friday on suspicion of planning attacks against officers and thefts, according to German news agency DPA.
However, authorities have not established whether the suspects were connected to the demonstrations, supported their demands or intended to exploit the gatherings.
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul acknowledged the right to protest but warned that police would respond firmly to extremist violence.
Referring to unrest in France and Italy, Reul said authorities would not tolerate attempts to turn peaceful protests into violence or disorder.
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