Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Berlin on Saturday in protest against a planned free trade deal between Europe and the United States that they say is anti-democratic and will lower food safety, labour and environmental standards.
Organisers - an alliance of environmental groups, charities and opposition parties - said 250,000 people were taking part in the rally against free trade deals with both the United States and Canada, far more than they had anticipated.
"This is the biggest protest that this country has seen for many, many years," Christoph Bautz, director of citizens' movement Campact told protesters in a speech.
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A police spokesman estimated 100,000 people were taking part in the demonstration which has been trouble free so far. There were 1,000 police officers on duty at the march.
Opposition to the so-called Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has risen over the past year in Germany, with critics fearing the pact will hand too much power to big multinationals at the expense of consumers and workers.
"What bothers me the most is that I don't want all our consumer laws to be softened," Oliver Zloty told Reuters TV. "And I don't want to have a dictatorship by any companies."
Dieter Bartsch, deputy leader of the parliamentary group for the Left party, who was taking part in the rally said he was concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding the talks.
"We definitely need to know what is supposed to be being decided," he said.

