Thousands Rally in Downtown Berlin Demanding Merz Government Resign

Several thousand demonstrators filled a square in downtown Berlin on Saturday, waving German and peace flags and chanting for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government to step down. The rally pulled together a broad mix of grievances under one banner, from anger over domestic reforms to frustration with Berlin's foreign policy toward Moscow.

Organizers, a group identifying itself as Project Million, said the turnout reflected growing public discontent with the governing coalition less than a year into its term, and framed the demonstration as the opening move in a longer campaign to force early elections.

A Long List of Demands

Protesters carried placards and banners spelling out a wide-ranging set of demands: the resignation of the federal government, a shift toward a Swiss-style system of direct democracy, an end to the coalition's healthcare reform plans, scrapping the mandatory public broadcasting fee, eliminating the national carbon tax, a fresh review of Germany's energy security, tighter immigration rules, and a push to repair relations with Russia.

Crowd chants of "Merz must go" and "We are the people" echoed through the square, while some signs took direct aim at the chancellor's handling of the war in Ukraine, accusing him of prioritizing Kyiv's interests over those of German citizens and calling for peace talks with Moscow.

A Heavy Police Presence, No Major Incidents

Authorities deployed hundreds of police officers to monitor the demonstration, and officials reported no major clashes or arrests by the time the crowd dispersed. The scale of the security response underscored how seriously Berlin is treating the wave of street protests that have followed the coalition's reform agenda in recent months.

Polling Shows a Government Under Pressure

The demonstration landed against a backdrop of souring public sentiment. A recent survey by public broadcaster ZDF found that roughly six in ten Germans believe the coalition's reform program is heading in the wrong direction, while only about three in ten said they think the government's measures are on the right track.

Taken together, the numbers suggest Merz's government is losing ground with voters on multiple fronts at once, domestic economic policy, energy costs, and foreign policy toward Russia, giving organizers like Project Million an opening to cast Saturday's rally as more than a fringe event.

Why It Matters

Street protests alone rarely topple a sitting government, but a crowd this size, organized around a resignation demand rather than a single policy fight, adds to a string of recent signals, falling poll numbers, coalition infighting, and now public demonstrations, that Merz enters the next stretch of his term with less room for error than when he took office.