Ahead of the event, Fahimi had criticized the coalition's "fundamental approach" as misguided in an interview. "Too little focus on growth and industrial policy, too many cuts to social services," said the DGB leader. The DGB wanted to "take the anger to the streets," she said.

Germany's employers accused the DGB of a "ritual refusal to reform."

"The trade unions say 'no' to almost every change," Steffen Kampeter, chief executive of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), told dpa. "They are dreaming of the world of yesterday."

Good. People shouldn't accept these concessions to capital.