Traditional Easter peace marches kick off in Germany

Germany's traditional Easter Marches, dating back to the peace movement of the last century, are under way, with people taking to the streets in the cities of Chemnitz, Gütersloh, Gronau and Biberach on Good Friday.

This year marchers were calling for the end of fighting and the beginning of peace negotiations in Ukraine as well as in the Gaza Strip, the network coordinating the marches nationwide said in a press release.

Some 250 people took to the streets in the eastern city of Chemnitz, according to the group, while some 60 people gathered on a former military airfield in Gütersloh, according to police.

The majority of marches are scheduled for Saturday, with some 70 actions planned nationwide, starting with a march in the western Rhein-Ruhr region, which traditionally leads participants through several cities across the densely populated area over several days.

Marches are also planned in Bonn, Bremen, Duisburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart and other cities.

The Easter Marches emerged from last century's pan-European peace movement calling for nuclear disarmament and protesting the arms race, with the first Easter march held in Britain in 1958.

This year, marchers in Germany are also demanding a more fundamental rejection of the logic of war and militarisation.