The second rounds of municipal elections brought results that can hardly be called ordinary: in Augsburg, Kempten, and Neuburg an der Donau, voters delivered a clear verdict in favor of municipal renewal. While the entire country’s attention was fixed on events in Munich, real sensations were unfolding in other key cities of the region. The final vote count confirmed that the public demand for change proved stronger than the administrative resources of the incumbent authorities.
A particular shock was caused by the results in Augsburg, the third-largest city in Bavaria. Here, the CSU party had to endure a painful defeat, ending years of dominance. When the final data appeared on the information boards, gloom reigned in the ranks of the conservatives, while SPD supporters did not hide their amazement at the scale of the success. Florian Freund (SPD) won a victory over the incumbent head of the city, Eva Weber (CSU), with an impressive result of 56.58%. Weber, who had led the administration since 2020, received only 43.42% of the votes. Thus, after eighteen long years, the post of Lord Mayor in Augsburg has once again passed to a representative of the Social Democrats.
New Lord Mayor of Augsburg Florian Freund: “We face great tasks”
In his first address, Florian Freund emphasized that the mood for change was literally in the city air. According to him, the trust granted by the residents imposes a huge responsibility. “We promised to put Augsburg in order, and now it is time to move to specific political steps,” the winner stated. During his campaign, Freund harshly criticized the former black-green coalition for bloated infrastructure project budgets. He pointed to the sharp increase in the cost of theater reconstruction and the protracted works at the station, accusing the authorities of ineffective management and a lack of creative energy.
Eva Weber, commenting on the loss, attributed it to the insufficient activity of her electorate. She suggested that many CSU supporters were overconfident in an automatic victory and did not show up at the polling stations. Weber noted that for six years she worked for the city with full dedication, but admitted that during the election period, opponents managed to shift public attention to shortcomings and problems. This critical image turned out to be more convincing for voters than the confidence in the future she projected.
A sensation was also brewing in Neuburg an der Donau
The question of whether a representative of the Greens could lead this large district center ceased to be theoretical back in the first round. Gerhard Schoder, who became the joint candidate from the Alliance 90/The Greens and the SPD, then confidently bypassed the CSU representative Matthias Enghuber. On the decisive Sunday, the intrigue vanished quickly: Schoder‘s lead grew rapidly during the count.
Schoder: “This doesn’t seem quite real yet”
The Neuburg town hall, which had been under CSU management for the last 24 years, officially changed its political color. Gerhard Schoder won with a result of 58.8%, leaving his opponent with 41.2%. The winner met the news of his triumph not in official offices, but among his team in a bar in the city center. When the success became a legal fact, he arrived at the town hall to the enthusiastic cheers of supporters. Despite the jubilation of the crowd, Schoder maintained a businesslike attitude, noting that the scale of the upcoming work makes it difficult to fully realize the reality of the victory. Only after the official part did he allow himself to openly celebrate this historic moment. Now he must prove through actions that the residents’ hopes for systemic reforms were justified.
The events in Kempten developed no less dramatically. Supporters of the Free Voters threw a real celebration when it became known that their candidate, Christian Schoch, gained 55.0%, displacing the incumbent head Thomas Kiechle (CSU), for whom 45.0% of voters cast their ballots. Kiechle, who had held the post since 2014, conceded the result, calling it a clear democratic signal. In turn, Christian Schoch stated that he was not surprised by the outcome, as he had clearly felt the citizens’ demand for a renewal of power over the past few weeks.
Schoch after the runoff in Kempten: “I expected this”
For Thomas Kiechle, this campaign was the first where he was unable to win in a single round. At the same time, forty-one-year-old Christian Schoch — an experienced manager and father of two — turned out to be a more attractive figure for the city residents. Schoch is no stranger to municipal affairs: he previously headed the human resources department in the city administration, and before that worked as a HR manager in the private sector. His deep knowledge of the internal structure of the town hall, combined with the image of an outsider, helped mobilize those who wished to see new faces in the leadership of Kempten.
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