Frankfurt am Main. As if out of their minds, the young men kick and hit the shop windows. Glass shatters, excited voices echo through the night. One uses a torn-out traffic sign to destroy the window, another uses a paving stone.
There are shocking scenes that can be observed in Frankfurt on Saturday evening. Scenes of brutal violence and looting. When the window of a shop was broken, several of the men, dressed in dark clothing and some of them masked, broke into the shop. They grab sneakers and other things they can quickly grab, then quickly disappear back into the darkness.
Elsewhere in downtown Frankfurt, barriers for construction sites lie on the street, rioters set fire to garbage, firecrackers fly against a police water cannon as they laboriously try to get the situation back under control. Finally, the officials quickly cordoned off Zeil, one of the busiest shopping streets in Germany, to ensure peace and quiet. The special operations command (SEK) is also alerted.
It had been discussed for a long time in Germany whether conditions like those recently in France were also conceivable here. There were serious riots on the sidelines of social protests. Shops were looted and there was horror at how the violence could erupt like this.
And now these pictures from Frankfurt. The big question is: How did this happen? And what do the rioters have to do with the previous demonstration by young people who actually wanted to draw attention to social injustices?
Saturday afternoon started peacefully. Hundreds of young people - mostly schoolchildren and students - gathered at the Weseler Werft on the banks of the Main. They cared about education, social justice, peace. In addition to “Gen Z regulates,” other groups joined in and promoted their concerns on stage. Colorful costumes and homemade posters dominated the picture.
Some of them were already masked. The start of the demonstration was delayed because the police insisted that the masks disappear. When it finally started, 8,000 to 9,000 people, mostly young people, took part. Their posters read: “No money for education. But for weapons?”, “Conscription from age 67” and “Billionaires are polluting the cityscape”.
But the train keeps stopping because firecrackers and fireworks explode. The pattern repeats itself: pyrotechnics from the crowd, the train stops, appeals from the police - then it continues until the next stop. So the train makes its way through the city. Interior Minister Poseck later said that around 100 violent left-wing extremists had joined the demonstrators.
As darkness falls, the mood becomes more aggressive. “The whole of Frankfurt hates the police” and “revolution” are now chanted. Skull flags and “Antifascist Action” flags can be seen. A water cannon and a police armored vehicle drive up.
At an intersection, the police are trying to separate the groups: the peaceful demonstrators should move on, the rioters should be separated. When that doesn't work, the demo is ended prematurely because of the "unpeaceful course". Most pupils and students have already left by this point - or are leaving now at the latest.
But for the police, things only really begin after the demo is broken up. The first confrontation takes place at the Konstablerwache in the middle of the city center. Police officers with helmets and aggressive groups face each other. Numerous onlookers stream in. Corona masks, Halloween costumes and pulled-up scarves can be seen - in between shoppers and passers-by on the Zeil.
Overall, the events this evening are diffuse and confusing. The preliminary assessment of the horror: The police arrested 54 people, they were between 13 and 29 years old. More than 100 police officers were injured. It is not yet known how many people were injured among the demonstrators and rioters. The exact amount of damage has not yet been determined. According to the Hessian Interior Minister, 17 shops were damaged and 5 of them were looted. It took the police a while to get the situation in the city center under control again with a massive presence.
The shock is great. Also in politics. “What happened last night in downtown Frankfurt, what we experienced there, makes me stunned and angry,” said Frankfurt Mayor Mike Josef (SPD) the day after. “It hurts me to see my city and our city like that.”
