01 Mar 2019; DW: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of students in a Fridays for Future demonstration in Hamburg on Friday.
Demonstrators marched from the Gänsemarkt square through the city center to Rathausmarkt, the central city square in Hamburg, carrying banners and signs with slogans such as "The climate can't wait," "March now or swim later" and "Make earth cool again!"
Police initially estimated the turnout to be between 3,500 to 4,000 students.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of students in a Fridays for Future demonstration in Hamburg on Friday.
Demonstrators marched from the Gänsemarkt square through the city center to Rathausmarkt, the central city square in Hamburg, carrying banners and signs with slogans such as "The climate can't wait," "March now or swim later" and "Make earth cool again!"
Police initially estimated the turnout to be between 3,500 to 4,000 students.
A growing movement
Thunberg, who is currently on holidays, has already taken part in demonstrations in Brussels, Paris and Antwerp. She held the first Fridays for Future demonstration outside the Swedish parliament building in August 2018.
Students missing school
The Fridays for Future movement has sparked some controversy, with some German politicians stating students should protest during their own time.
Earlier in February, North Rhine-Westphalia Education Minister Yvonne Gebauer sent letters to schools reminding them that students were legally required to attend classes and that if they didn't, they could face forced attendance, administrative offense proceedings and even expulsion from school.
The movement has garnered worldwide attention with tens of thousands of students holding protests on Fridays across the world. In January 2019, 16-year-old Thunberg was invited to talk at the World Economic Forum in Davos where she told business and political leaders: "I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day." She has since become a visible spokesperson for climate protection by pointing out that today's youth — the people who will be most affected by climate change — currently have few ways to hold politicians to account for their lack of action.
