About 20,000 German pensioners took part in a demonstration here Saturday against the government's social welfare reforms, denouncing them as "social dismantling", police said.
Protestors donning red caps to keep off the light rain and carrying thousands of yellow balloons shouted slogans such as "No More Lies to Pensioners" and "Against Social Dismantling, For More Social Justice".
The reforms were included in the Agenda 2010 package approved in January by the ruling coalition of the Social Democratic and Greens parties.
They are designed to revive the economy and ensure the continuation of social support systems, and entail a cut in benefits for the long-term unemployed.
The reforms also see a weakening in redundancy rights, a lowering of pensions and public health allowances.
But the president of the SoVD trade union, Adolf Bauer, who called the demonstration, condemned the reforms as the "toughest in the history of the Federal Republic".
The union said the authorities should set their sights on tackling unemployment, currently at 10.7 percent, which it said was the main reason for the social security deficit.
"Those who ask for even more social cuts are blind to the situation of Germans," said Bauer directing the comment at the opposition conservative Christian Democratic Union, which is calling for the reforms to go further.
"Those who want to still lower the social minimum are irresponsible people".
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