Thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Germany on Saturday to demand an end to nuclear power in the country.
Demonstrators pointed to the nuclear crisis in Japan, where an earthquake and tsunami-damaged nuclear reactor is leaking radiation into the atmosphere, as a warning.
Police said some 50,000 protestors turned out in Berlin alone. Marches also took place in Hamburg, Cologne and Munich.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier this month that Germany would speed up its move to renewable energy sources, as it evaluated the safety of its nuclear power plants.
Ms. Merkel also has said Germany will temporarily close seven of its aging nuclear power plants pending a safety review, in light of the crisis in Japan.