Hamburg raises its voice: 5,000 against Merz's cityscape statements!

Hamburg raises its voice: 5,000 against Merz's cityscape statements!

On October 25, 2025, around 2,600 people gathered in Hamburg to demonstrate against the statements made by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) about the “cityscape”. The motto of the campaign: “We are the cityscape!” The demonstrators marched from the town hall market towards the main train station and carried banners with clear messages like “Merz out of our cityscape!” and “Standing together against racism and division.” Despite original expectations of 5,000 participants, the event was peaceful, a police spokesman reported. The protest alliance was organized by the Die Linke party, Fridays for Future Hamburg and other left-wing groups. The AfD parliamentary group leader, Dirk Nockemann, sharply criticized the demonstration and described the participants as “professional outrages”.

The background to the protests are statements by Merz, who said on October 14th that there were problems in the cityscape, triggering a storm of indignation. He specified that these problems arise particularly from migrants without permanent residence status who do not work and do not follow the rules. However, Merz's views do not seem to be uniformly received by the population. According to a recent survey by the ZDF political barometer, 63 percent of respondents support his statements, while 29 percent reject them. Older respondents in particular often express their approval: 70 percent of 35 to 59 year olds and 66 percent of those over 60 year olds agreed with Merz, while in the 18 to 34 year old age group only 42 percent support him.

Protests in several cities

The Hamburg rally was not the only one: demonstrations against Merz's statements also took place in other cities in Germany. Around 300 participants gathered in Magdeburg, 500 in Hildesheim, while around 100 people supported the protest in Leverkusen. A demonstration was also planned in Merz's hometown of Arnsberg, and further protests are reportedly expected in cities such as Trier, Bremen and Nuremberg. In Bonn, an incident caused a stir when the CDU district office was daubed with a slogan that was directed against the whitewashing of the city's image. The state security agency has already started an investigation.

Security perception of the population

The discussion about the cityscape is intertwined with another topic: people's perception of safety. According to the ZDF political barometer, only 20 percent of respondents feel very safe in public places, while 46 percent say they feel somewhat safe. 25 percent of those surveyed feel somewhat insecure, and 8 percent express themselves as very insecure. The differences in perception between men and women are minimal, which shows that the feeling of security is an issue affecting society as a whole.

Whether the protests can actually have an impact on the political landscape or change the opinions of supporters and opponents remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the topic of cityscape moves people and causes lively debates throughout Germany.