Morning papers braced for the nationwide 'Gen Z regelt' demonstrations, with interior ministers warning against chaos, shops barricading in Munich and Stuttgart, and organizers citing schools, prices and conscription. Live blogs tracked slow gatherings in Stuttgart, Essen, Cologne and Munich through midday, initially described as calm but smaller than the announced 180,000 in 34 cities.
By afternoon police halted the Cologne march over masked protesters and deployed water cannon, while Hamburg saw burning barricades and Berlin and Frankfurt reported firecrackers and pyrotechnics.
Evening coverage shifted to rioting after the official marches ended, with smashed windows and looting on Frankfurt's Zeil, street battles in Berlin and Cologne cathedral square, and police speaking of around 100 left-extremist violent offenders. Apart from the streets, Berlin's Left voted to open coalition talks with SPD and Greens.