AfD triumphs in Brandenburg: How the election is changing the country!

AfD triumphs in Brandenburg: How the election is changing the country!

On April 22, 2025, the Viadrina Institute for European Studies (IFES) announces a discussion round on the results of the recent federal election. The public event will take place on Tuesday, April 29th, at 6:15 p.m. in the Senate Hall, Room 109 in the main building of the European University Viadrina. The focus is on the causes and consequences of the AfD's clear performance, especially in Brandenburg, where it became the strongest force.

The evening promises an exciting discussion about the significance of these developments for the European University and the Frankfurt (Oder) region. Prominent experts will take part in the discussion: Gideon Botsch, head of the Emil Julius Gumbel Research Center for Anti-Semitism and Right-Wing Extremism at the MMZ, Tom Leistner from the “We are the East” initiative, Theresa Gessler from Viadrina and Sascha Münnich, professor of economic sociology at the university. The event will be moderated by Susann Worschech, a social scientist at Viadrina. Registration is not required.

Election results in Brandenburg

The 2025 federal election produced clear results in Brandenburg rbb24.de reported. The AfD received 32.5 percent of the second votes, trumping the CDU with 18.1 percent, followed by the SPD, which achieved 14.8 percent. The Left and the Alliance Greens achieved 10.7 and 6.6 percent, while the Free Democratic Party only received 3.25 percent and the Free Voters 1.5 percent of the vote.

The AfD won nine of the ten constituencies. Constituency 58, Oberhavel – Havelland II, was the only one in which Andreas Galau achieved the lowest result among the constituency winners with 30.84 percent. Olaf Scholz from the SPD was able to triumph in constituency 61 Potsdam – Potsdam-Mittelmark II – Teltow-Fläming. This is a notable change since the SPD won all ten constituencies in Brandenburg in the last federal election in 2021.

Influence of the new electoral law

The new electoral law has a significant influence on which parties enter the Bundestag. How ZDF analyzed, constituency winners need enough seats based on the second vote result. An example illustrates this: A party with 20 percent of the vote could theoretically get 126 seats, but if it wins 130 constituencies, the four with the worst results do not enter parliament.

In order to make the election results more transparent, both the first and second vote results are presented in interactive maps and tables. These give voters the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information about the results in the individual constituencies. The state of Brandenburg is now sending 21 representatives to the new Bundestag, with the challenges of seat distribution and allocation being the focus.