Overview

• Berlin police estimated about 7,000 participants at the rally and march that set off from Bebelplatz through Mitte and was scheduled to return to the starting point.
• Peace groups called the Berlin action alongside a concurrent demonstration in Stuttgart organized under a shared anti-rearmament message.
• Organizers in Stuttgart said 15,000 people gathered at Schlossplatz, while police there did not provide a crowd estimate and reported no incidents so far.
• Protesters urged diplomatic efforts to end the wars in Russia-attacked Ukraine and in the Gaza Strip, displaying placards rejecting more weapons as a path to peace.
• An organizers’ statement argued that rearmament drives debt, triggers social cutbacks, militarizes society, and hampers efforts against the climate crisis and global poverty, while one demonstrator accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz of warmongering.