Frankfurt: More than a thousand people rallied in front of the European Central Bank in the pouring rain on Friday to protest austerity policies across different countries in the euro area.
In a demonstration organised by the anti-capitalist movement Blockupy, police put the number of participants at 1,200-1,500 while the organisers themselves claimed there were 3,000 protesters.
Barriers have been set up around the ECB's Eurotower headquarters in Frankfurt's city centre for days now to prevent demonstrators from getting too close.
Police said that "several hundred" officers have been deployed in the city centre, aided by surveillance helicopters. But a police spokesman refused to say exactly how many officers were involved.