According to a public opinion survey conducted by Forsa on behalf of “Stern” and RTL, a large majority of Germans understand the demonstrations organized by young people. The survey found that 83 percent of respondents expressed understanding for the demonstrations, while only 16 percent stated they did not, and 1 percent answered that they didn’t know.
The protests, which took place across Germany the previous weekend, saw tens of thousands of young people taking to the streets to advocate for better education, greater social justice, enhanced climate protection, and opposition to compulsory military service. A significant majority demonstrated basic understanding of the youth protests regardless of whether they lived in the East or West, across all age groups, or within different political affiliations. Furthermore, 86 percent of students and pupils surveyed managed to grasp the underlying reasons for the demonstrations. The groups least inclined to understand the protests were the supporters of the CDU/CSU (28 percent) and those sympathetic to the AfD (33 percent).
Around 120,000 people attended the protest on October 31st, although the organizer “Gen Z regelt” had registered over 180,000 participants nationwide. The organizers had specifically called for the demonstrations to be peaceful and conducted with solidarity. Despite this call, clashes and unrest occurred in several cities following the recent demonstrations. Consequently, the organizer “Gen Z regelt” has called upon people to participate in further protests scheduled for November 20th.
Forsa gathered this data by surveying 1,006 individuals on October 29th and 30th, 2026. The precise question asked was: “Do you have understanding for the demonstrations of young people in Germany?”
