Election failure of the Greens in Berlin: The Greens lost their Kreuzberg – no wonder

C hristian Ströbele will rotate in his grave. The Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, which once became a nationally known Green Party stronghold thanks to Ströbele's stubborn honesty, has lost face. The Greens achieved their best results in the election on Sunday there, as in the other inner city districts. But the strongholds are now just rolling hills, barely visible behind the steep red electoral columns of the Left Party.

50 percent and more voted for the left there. This is really great for left-wing voters. But that's precisely why it's a disaster for the Greens.

They have completely lost a large part of their core clientele. The student one. The post-migrant one. The combative one. The committed one. The angry one. The spiky one that they once had in their logo when they were still called Alternative List.

They lost Kreuzberg. And that goes far beyond the district. It's about the attitude to life.

Why is that so? Because the Greens are invisible. Have made yourself invisible. Does anyone remember the poster that the Kreuzberg Greens used in the 2017 federal election campaign? “The houses to those who live in them,” it said. The old squatter slogan received the greatest opposition from within the party. Because many were afraid that so much spontaneity could scare voters.

The taz is an independent, left-wing and opinionated daily newspaper. We have been arguing in our comments, essays and debate texts since the taz was founded in 1979. We often cannot and do not want to agree on an opinion. That's why you'll find some completely opposing positions here - all part of the very broad left-wing spectrum of opinions.

Now in the 2026 tenant election campaign it would have been time for a new edition. But the left had set the topic - and occupied it with it. The Greens are also in favor of expropriating the housing companies. And anyone who was in the party bubble certainly knew that too. But otherwise?

Did anyone really know their leading candidate? Has anyone seen the bicycle streets connecting the city on posters, which should be part of the party's green core? Of course not. Because in the last election campaign, the party famously fell on its face with its bicycle policy. But without a transport revolution on the horizon, this time they ran out of steam even more.

After the three state elections in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt, many questions arise that go beyond state politics. Is something currently changing in the German party landscape? We'll discuss this tomorrow evening live and in the stream in the Bundestalk in the taz Kantine in Berlin. You can register here.

Without radicalism, the Greens are simply at a loss. They may still be a cozy attraction in the cozy Tempelhof. Or an accessory that demonstrates attitude in the well-off Mitte district. But where something is really at stake, voters are firmly on the left - and realize that their old political home is no longer green for them.