Thousands of people are expected to take part in the German peace movement's traditional Easter peace marches, with over a hundred events organized in dozens of towns across the country between April 2 and 6. Several German newspapers have run ads trying to mobilize people.

The demonstrations, listed on the Network of the German Peace Movement's website, include everything from "Bikes for Peace" tours to concerts to afternoon-long gatherings with speeches addressing the wars in Iran, Gaza and Ukraine, the Rojava conflict in northern Syria, as well as human rights and climate justice.

This year's marches are likely to be marked by the German government's decision to partially re-introduce military service: As of the beginning of this year, all 18-year-olds began receiving a questionnaire from the German military meant to assess their "motivation and suitability" for service. Young men are obliged to fill out the forms, while women — exempted from obligatory military service by the constitution — may do so voluntarily.

The new military service law triggered a series of nationwide school strikes, and it is likely that this year's Easter marches will see larger contingent of young people. Kristian Golla, spokesperson for the Network of the German Peace Movement, said that about 20 of the demos will include speakers who intend to address the issue of conscription.

Decentralized peace movement

Golla said that there was, sadly, no shortage of reasons why the peace marches are still relevant today. "Whether it's Ukraine and Russia, the Gulf region, Israel and Palestine, or the bombing of Iran — those will be the essential issues for the Easter marches, and of course the strengthening of international law," he told DW.

The peace marches are de-centrally organized, meaning there is no top-down directive from any particular organization that determines the specific issues or who the speakers are. This year, the German Peace Movement's website says that the movement is calling on the German government to launch "diplomatic initiatives for the ending of the wars," while contributing to the strengthening international law, and providing more support for those suffering from the war.

The statement also said the Network was highly critical of what it called the government's "selective interpretation of international law," arguing that Germany should condemn the US and Israeli attack on Iran just as much as it does Russia's attack on Ukraine.

Hendrik Hegemann, a senior researcher at the Hamburg-based Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH), said that despite all these valid issues and concerns, he didn't see the Easter marches attracting a massive increase in crowds this year.

That, he argued, was partly because many people — including some within the peace movement itself — feel more ambivalent about current conflicts. "On Ukraine, for example, it's a more complex situation than with Iraq in 2003, the last phase of larger peace protests in Germany, where most people could agree that the attack was wrong," Hegemann said. "Now we've just seen the fourth anniversary of the attack on Bucha and of course it's more difficult to mobilize against strengthening Ukraine."

Old tradition, new urgency

Germany's Easter peace marches originated in the early 1960s and were directly inspired by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the UK. They grew rapidly during the early part of the Cold War era, from a few thousand participants in the early 1960s to huge crowds of hundreds of thousands by 1968.

The participants have traditionally been brought together by a wide range of organizations, including churches, trade unions, left-wing political parties and pacifist groups like the German Peace Society (DFG-VK). These latter groups, originally inspired by conscientious objectors, have recently found themselves providing more and more advice and support for young people who want to refuse military service.

But Hegemann said that the Easter marches had been struggling to mobilize people in the last few years. "Those traditional organizations just don't have that same mobilization potential anymore, and some of them have changed their own stances on peace policy," he said.

Hegemann also said that in recent years, some Germans had been discouraged from joining the Easter marches because some elements of the far-right and divisive political figures like Sahra Wagenknecht have co-opted the cause.

Nevertheless, Hegemann believed that pacifism still occupied an important place in Germany's public debate. "They certainly have less approval in the broader debate than they once had, but it remains an important position," he said. "It's a very old, very established tradition that especially in a time of re-militarization tries to point to alternatives, tries to ensure that certain ideas get questioned."

Germans more worried about war

The sense of security in Germany has dropped dramatically over the last few years. The polling institute Allensbach published a report in February that said only 55% of Germans feel safe — down from 60% in 2025, and from over 70% in 2019. Some two-thirds of Germans now fear that the country could get directly involved in a war.

Allensbach's annual "Security Report" also found that fewer Germans feel that NATO will keep them safe — largely because of lack of trust in the US as a guarantor of peace in Europe. Only 42% believe that the alliance would successfully repel a Russian attack, down some 14 percentage points on the year before. "Of course, people feel threatened by the overwhelming global situation," said Golla. "In light of the world situation, I do of course expect more people [than last year]."

But still, he didn't want to sound too bullish about the expected numbers this Easter weekend: "I know that the weather is a problem — the weather isn't expected to be that good," he said. "Still, I'm carefully optimistic that there will be more people than last year."

Edited by Rina Goldenberg