50.000 German school pupils protest new military service law

Protests against Germany’s new military service law were attended by around 50.000 school pupils in 90 German cities on Thursday, March 5. 

German school kids protest military service

Under the motto “School strike against military service” (“Schulstreik gegen Wehrpflicht”), around 50.000 school pupils took part in demonstrations across Germany on Thursday.

At one demonstration in Berlin, protest organisers counted 6.000 attendees, while police recorded around 3.000 attendees. Banners and placards read “Friedrich Merz to the front”, “A clever head doesn’t fit under a steel helmet” and “Dying is not on our school timetable”, according to a ZDF report.

Around 600 school students attended the school strike in Munich, 600 in Dortmund, and 1.200 in Hamburg, while protests in many smaller cities drew between 100 and 200 attendees.

In Berlin, slogans such as “Never, never, never again military service” and “The rich want war, the youth want a future” rang through the megaphones. Speaking to ZDF-Morgenmagazin, General Secretary of the Schulstreik gegen Wehrpflicht movement Amy Kirchhoff said that young people felt disregarded.

Kirchhoff said the decision to reintroduce military service had come “from above” without consulting young people, who felt “unheard” when it came to policy concerning their futures, not just military service, but also pension reforms. 

What is Germany’s new military service law?

The CDU/CSU-SPD government agreed on the new military service law in November 2025. According to the new law, all male German citizens born on or after January 1, 2008, are required to complete a questionnaire regarding their willingness to serve in the German Army (Bundeswehr). 

The questionnaire is voluntary for female citizens. The letters contain a QR code to the questionnaire, which is completed on the internet. The government sent out the first questionnaires in mid-January.

After completing the questionnaire, all male German citizens born on or after January 1, 2008, are required to undergo a medical examination to determine whether they are fit to serve in the Bundeswehr. If they pass the examination and choose to complete military service, those who serve fewer than 12 months will become “voluntary military personnel” and those who serve longer than 12 months will become “temporary soldiers”.

The German government has said that military service will remain voluntary, so long as the Bundeswehr is on track to reach its goal of increasing volunteer numbers from 80.000 to 260.000 by 2035.

What happens if the volunteer targets are not met?

Between now and 2035, the government will monitor whether voluntary service targets are being met. If they are not being met, the government has said it will oblige 18-year-old men to complete the questionnaire, the medical assessment and at least one year of military service.

If the government determines that enough volunteers have still not signed up, Germany would introduce needs-based conscription (Bedarfswehrpflicht). To do this, the government would have to draft and pass a second military service law. What that would look like remains to be seen.

Previously, there was discussion about whether, if voluntary service targets were not met, Germany would introduce a lottery system to randomly select citizens who have completed the questionnaire and passed the medical examination to serve in the Bundeswehr.

The suggestion proved controversial and is off the table for now, but it is still possible that it will be reconsidered and adopted in the future if targets are not met, according to a report by ZDF.