Students blocked university buildings in Berlin and Hamburg on Wednesday to protest education budget cuts and government plans to revive military conscription, university officials and local media said.

At Free University Berlin, protesters blocked the exterior of the Otto Suhr Institute from late morning.

A university spokeswoman confirmed the blockade to the Tagesspiegel daily, saying it was linked to youth protests in France and opposed education cuts and military conscription plans.

“By disrupting the daily seminar schedule, we aim to draw attention to the extreme crisis facing higher education funding and to underscore the urgent need for action,” the student group said in a statement on social media.

“We would like to highlight the upcoming protest days – October 31 and November 20 – and encourage students not to be intimidated, but rather to join us,” it added.

In Hamburg, approximately 50 demonstrators blocked entrances to the arts and media campus of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences on Wednesday morning.

A university spokesman said staff and students were not prevented from entering the buildings.

A banner at the entrance urged students to join Saturday's nationwide Gen Z demonstrations, local media reported.

Protesters chanted “For a better, affordable life for everyone” and “The rich want war, young people want a future,” according to German news agency DPA.

Demonstrators also demanded a substantial increase in public investment, calling for €100 billion ($111 billion) for education and social services.

The protests come ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for Saturday, with more than 145,000 students and young people already registered online, according to the organizers.

The initiative Gen Z steht auf, or Gen Z stands up, said it would hold its main demonstrations in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne, with additional protests planned in 27 other cities.

The demonstrations are scheduled to begin at 2 pm local time (1300GMT) under the slogan “Our future is in our hands.”

Organizers said the protests would focus on cuts to education and social spending, rising living costs and government plans to revive military conscription.

In its position paper, the initiative called for greater investment in education, social security, health care and affordable living rather than budget savings at the expense of younger generations.

Ministry sees no concrete calls for violence

Interior Ministry spokesman Bjoern Bowinkelmann said at a press conference in Berlin that federal security authorities were closely monitoring the developments ahead of the planned youth protests.

“Currently, the federal security authorities have no further findings indicating calls for violence or planned violent unrest in connection with the demonstrations,” said Bowinkelmann, adding that the mobilization calls known so far emphasized the peaceful character of the protests.

“And we also observe that there are explicit statements of distancing from the violent confrontations that unfortunately have occurred in similar protests abroad,” he added.

“What we do note, however, is that alongside predominantly non-extremist actors, parts of the left-wing extremist scene and isolated groups from foreign-related extremism are taking up these calls and participating in the mobilization for this demonstration.”​​​​​​​ (AA)