Renewed anti-capitalist protests grip Germany

Germany became the scene of anti-capitalist demonstrations on Saturday for the second consecutive week, according to the press. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests in the United States, thousands of people took to the streets of major German cities, among them Frankfurt, Berlin, Cologne, Munich Duesseldorf and Hanover to protest corporate power and growing social inequality. Around 6,000 people demonstrated in Frankfurt, continental Europe's financial hub, to voice outrage over corporate greed. Carrying placards saying 'No power to the banks' and 'Rein in banks,' protesters marched past Frankfurt's Stock Exchange and Deutsche Bank to get to the European Central Bank (ECB) where dozens of anti-capitalist demonstrators have camped out for a week. In Berlin, hundreds of people marched to the German parliament. Activists were demanding an end to the free-wheeling ways of global financial players whom they view as responsible for the present European and American economic woes. The ongoing global banking and financial crisis has triggered deep fears among Germans over their country's political and economic future. More than 15 percent of Germany's total population of 81.7 million people are facing imminent poverty, according to official figures. Meanwhile, the number of German millionaires reached an all-time record high. According to the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the number of German millionaires stood at 430,000. Germany is ranked fifth in the international list of millionaires, while the US heads the millionaires' ranking with 4.7 million people.