Germany’s national school student umbrella organisation has distanced itself from the “Gen Z regelt” campaign behind Saturday’s nationwide demonstrations, while stressing that it does not reject the concerns raised by young people.
BSK Secretary-General Amy Kirchhoff told Reuters that the organisation’s criticism was directed at the campaign rather than at students’ concerns. The group plans to hold a separate day of protest on November 20. The move comes as questions have been raised about who is driving the initiative, which has drawn support from a broad mix of political and civil-society groups.
Organisers called demonstrations in 34 German cities and initially projected around 182,000 participants. Police figures from Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich put combined attendance at about 6,000 by Saturday afternoon, compared with roughly 36,000 online sign-ups listed by organisers for those cities. A final nationwide total was not available.
Participants are calling for more investment in education and social services, measures to ease rising living costs, stronger climate action and opposition to compulsory military service.
