After the elections | What the signs in the Berlin districts say

A green-red-red counting community will continue to govern in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district. Photo: imago/Schöning In Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the negotiations between the Greens, the Left and the SPD are on the home stretch. The counting community, which has existed since 2023, is very likely to be continued. The explorations were successfully completed. The district mayor Jörn Oltmann (Greens), who has been in office since 2021, will stand for re-election in the district council assembly (BVV) on November 18th. He said that to “nd”. The district boards of the parties have already voted to continue the alliance.

“I look forward to further discussions and hope that we can organize reliable cooperation on the good basis of the election results,” said Oltmann. “We will use all district instruments to keep life affordable for the people in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.” He will continue to advocate for “a lively culture of remembrance, colorful diversity and the rainbow.”

In the election on September 20th, the Greens became the strongest force in the district with 22.7 percent. The Left Party came in second with 20.3 percent, just ahead of the CDU. Political scientist Ellen Ehmke will take on a position in the district office for the party. However, it is still unclear which business area this is. The previous transport district councilor Saskia Ellenbeck (Greens) will run again, as confirmed by Green party circles. The CDU, SPD and AfD are also entitled to one place each.

The parties are currently negotiating a paper with joint projects. “There are still a few tricky issues,” says Harald Gindra, chairman of the left-wing faction in the BVV. He called the agreement on a counting community “gratifying.”

Next week the council meetings of all districts will meet for the first time. Then the district mayors could also be elected. But this is only likely to happen in a few districts. A local politician describes the current mood with “wait and see”. The parties were waiting for the coalition negotiations at the state level. There is no legal deadline for the election of district offices. A new district office can take office as soon as the district mayor and two members of the district office have been elected.

In Pankow the signs point to a left-wing mayor. The explorations between the Left Party, which had become the strongest force, and the Greens are expected to be concluded soon. At a meeting between the two parties on Wednesday evening, the division of business areas in the district office was said to have already been discussed. “nd” learned this from the negotiators’ environment. Together, the Left and the Greens have a two-seat majority in the BVV. An alternative alliance of the Greens, CDU, SPD and Volt would have an even smaller majority of just one seat.

However, Jonas Teune (Left) will not stand for election at the meeting on October 29th, as he told »nd«. When he ran for the office of social and health district councilor in April, he failed. Dominique Krössin (left) had previously resigned from the post. Teune was accused of not living in the district, not even in Berlin. He has been living in Hennigsdorf in the Berlin area for a long time. The Left and the Greens therefore want to play it safe and hold talks with the SPD in order to increase their majority. In addition to Teune, the former Left Bundestag member Martina Renner is also to be elected district councilor.

In Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg there is no way around the Left Party. With 40.1 percent, it clearly outclassed all other parties in the BVV election. Your top candidate René Pérez Domínguez – currently an employee of the left-wing faction in the House of Representatives – has little to worry about his election, even if talks with the other parties have only just begun.

Only the Left (4 seats) and the Greens (2 seats) will be represented in the district office. It is unclear whether a counting community will even be necessary. While the left in the trendy district is quite pragmatic by West Berlin standards, the district Greens and Social Democrats are traditionally located on the left edge of their respective parties. The intersections are correspondingly large. A formal alliance is almost unnecessary.

In Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, the Greens, who currently have Kirstin Bauch as the district mayor, can choose: They can form a counting community with the CDU, Volt and FDP. The CDU, which was the strongest force in the election, is then likely to claim the post of district mayor. A green-red-red alliance would probably be more attractive for the Greens, but personal differences are said to stand in the way.

A personnel decision is already clearly emerging. The leftist Frederike-Sophie Gronde-Brunner was elected to the House of Representatives on September 20th, but did not accept the seat. It is no secret that she is very interested in a seat in the district office. Which department is assigned to her depends on which counting community is ultimately formed.

In Steglitz-Zehlendorf, too, the Greens are faced with the decision of whether to form a coalition with the CDU or with the Left and the SPD. Because they ended up behind the CDU in the BVV election, they would probably have to give up the district mayor's post with the former alliance. Maren Schellenberg (Greens) is currently taking the seat.

Left-wing leading candidate Dennis Egginger-Gonzales is likely to claim a seat in the district office for his party. If Die Linke does not become part of the counting community, it will probably only be allocated a less important business area.

In Treptow-Köpenick, a red-red-green alliance seems to be the most likely option. Corresponding discussions are already underway. However, it is unclear who should become district mayor. The candidate preferred by the district association of the Left should see his future at the state level. It is therefore unlikely that a district office will be elected next week.

There is also a red-red-green majority in Lichtenberg. However, a left-wing district mayor and his two colleagues in the district office have few allies in their daily work. Of the remaining three seats in the district office, two belong to the AfD and one to the CDU. The Greens and SPD came away empty-handed in the election.

In the remaining districts the race is still completely open. In Neukölln, the Left Party won the election - but has to fight for allies. The SPD definitely does not want to elect the left-wing district mayoral candidate Ahmed Abed. Abed attracted negative attention from the Social Democrats when he described the mayor of the Israeli twin city of Bat Yam as a "genocider" during an appearance on the BVV.

The SPD would not be absolutely necessary for a majority; the Left and the Greens would also achieve a narrow majority on their own. But the Greens also have reservations about Abed. According to reports, everyone involved is preparing for a longer hanging game. The next meeting between the Greens and the Left is not planned until November.

In Marzahn-Hellersdorf, leftist Sarah Bigall is still in the running for the district mayor's post. For this she would give up her seat in the House of Representatives. MP Steffen Ostehr (Left) is also ready to take up a position in the district office. But together with the Greens and SPD you would only get 19 seats. The AfD, which had become the strongest force, had 20 seats. According to the law, the strongest faction or a counting community that is collectively larger than the strongest faction is entitled to make nominations. A relative majority is sufficient to elect the district mayor.

How this counting community could be formed is completely open. According to participants, negotiations with the CDU are currently at a dead end. On Thursday next week, a new BVV board will most likely not even be elected. Together with the BSW, red-green-red would achieve a relative majority. The support of the animal protection party, which has a representative in the BVV, would not be enough. According to nd information, the parties have agreed to re-elect the district office in December at the earliest.

The fire wall is also crumbling in Reinickendorf. “The CDU does not automatically vote against a motion just because it comes from a certain party,” says a resolution that the local CDU published last week. But no agreements are made with “political extremes.”

CDU district chairman Marvin Schulz told the “Tagesspiegel” that the CDU district mayoral candidate Sebastian Pieper wanted to govern without a counting community behind him. In the interview he also announced that on October 29th the CDU would elect candidates from all parties who would be entitled to seats in the district office according to the proportional system. With Felix Lederle, a left-wing member is likely to become a district councilor for the first time.

At the time of going to press there was no reliable information available from Spandau. None of the classic party alliances were able to win a majority in the BVV election. Even in Mitte, it is still unclear how the district will be governed in the future. The Left, the Greens, the SPD and Volt are holding discussions there about a counting community. The former Left district councilor Christoph Keller could become district mayor. However, he will not stand for election at the meeting on October 29th.

As a rule, the parties form counting communities that meet to elect the district mayor and assign the positions in the district office to business areas. However, the positions in the district office are distributed proportionally. Depending on the election results, each party is entitled to a certain number of seats in the district office. However, these must be confirmed by the BVV. In the past, AfD candidates in particular repeatedly failed. Their positions then remain unoccupied and the work areas are co-managed by other district office members.

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