2027 mayoral election in Leipzig: Who’s standing? And: Volt doesn’t just want to exert pressure for this election

For the past few days, the question has been: Are there 13, 14, 15 or 16 candidates standing in the mayoral election? Five candidates need to collect supporting signatures; a new candidate joined the race last week, and for the time being, signatures can only be collected for the three candidates Getu Abraham, Falk Fiebig (Volt) and Fabian Schmidt (PdH). Signatures cannot (yet) be collected for Ralf Kohl and Lars Kulesch.

We spoke to the latter two yesterday; Ralf Kohl had a cycling accident and is currently severely disabled. However, he definitely intends to collect signatures. Lars Kulesch will not be standing for election; he has decided against it for various personal reasons. It is likely, however, that we will hear from him again.

Jürgen Brenken is a new addition; we learnt of this via stimmzettel-leipzig.de. Following our initial contact, it is likely that you will find out more here next week.

Opening of the Volt Dialogue Centre

Falk Fiebig, the mayoral candidate for the Volt party, had issued an invitation to the opening of a dialogue centre on 7 November. The invitation read: “It is important to me not just to talk about people during the election campaign, but to listen to them regularly.” This suggests that Volt, which is contesting the mayoral election as an outsider, is already positioning itself for the 2029 elections. In addition to the candidate, around 20 people were present, including members of Volt as well as supporters.

For someone who does not enjoy speaking in front of an audience, Falk Fiebig presented his points in a well-structured manner. What is it all about? “When I set out in life in 1990, at the age of about 16, I felt as though I could conquer the world. For me, anything was possible. […] Now that my children are grown up, I’ve set up businesses and feel I’ve achieved a great deal in my life, I’m sending my children out into the world. And I can see that the opportunities aren’t the same as the ones I had. And that pains me.”

We older people are probably all familiar with that feeling. What does Falk Fiebig want to tackle?

Volt, as he often emphasizes, prioritizes the European ideal; without Europe, none of this will come to anything. For the mayoral election campaign, this is secondary, though not entirely unimportant. But Falk Fiebig also has issues close to his heart, and one of them is people’s loneliness. “We’re seeing an alarming shift, particularly amongst young people. Mental health issues have risen by around 20 per cent, and loneliness is becoming an ever-greater problem. We run the risk of losing many young people to society. And instead of opening up new prospects for them, we are blaming them for problems they did not cause.”

Naturally, issues such as affordable housing, mobility for all, the economy, science, and protection against heat were also addressed, and the goal of making Leipzig a liveable city was proclaimed. Yes, that’s what all the candidates we’ve spoken to so far have said.

What’s interesting is the Dialogue Centre with fixed opening hours, which will remain in operation for the time being until the mayoral election. Falk Fiebig also highlighted this as a unique selling point and emphasized: “We have this Dialogue Centre, which I believe is an opportunity. It’s a unique project that we’ve built from the ground up here. I think that, given the size of our party, we’ve achieved something here we can be proud of – a place where we can start engaging in dialogue straight away. So make the most of it, pop in, get involved, and take advantage of the projects we’re launching here to bring democracy to life, to make politics tangible again, and to enable people to get involved. The Dialogue Centre isn’t just for the election campaign; it’s not just for us, but it’s there for everyone.”

The call for members and supporters to get actively involved in collecting signatures of support was almost a little brief.

We then asked Falk Fiebig some questions, including one on a topic from his speech that wasn’t mentioned above.

Your core issues, or issues close to your heart, are loneliness, housing, mobility and so on – could you elaborate on this a little more, in relation to Volt’s policies?

We’re focusing on three major themes: Leipzig as a city of the future, ‘Together rather than alone’ and ‘Europe begins at home’. Europe often feels rather abstract at local level, and we understand that. That is why we want to establish a concrete project in the form of the Leipzig European Independence Forum (LEIF). Our vision is to develop Leipzig into a European meeting place where politics, academia, business and civil society come together regularly to work jointly on solutions for Europe’s future. This focuses in particular on Europe’s economic and technological independence, social cohesion and the question of how we can practically advance European cooperation. To this end, we want to bring together existing expertise and networks in Leipzig, attract European partners and develop this into a permanent forum that not only facilitates discussion but also initiates concrete projects and collaborations. Leipzig has the strength and the potential to make a difference to Europe’s development in this way. With LEIF, we want to make the most of these opportunities.

What does this project have to do with the mayoral election and the local authority?

At LEIF, the Leipzig European Independence Forum, our aim is to strengthen local structures in conjunction with Europe, but above all to highlight this social change. This is also a local issue.

Where can people find out more?

With LEIF, we want to create something that extends far beyond this election campaign. Leipzig should become a European meeting place for the major questions of the future. How do we safeguard our independence, how do we shape social change, and how do we continue to grow closer together as Europeans? We are already laying the groundwork and will present the project during the election campaign. Above all, however, we want to involve the people of Leipzig right from the start.

Does Volt have a positive narrative for the future?

Yes, absolutely. I believe we need to regain our confidence and the courage to shape our own future. Especially for our children and future generations. That is why we say: ‘The future is shaped by action’, ‘Together rather than alone’ and ‘Europe begins at home’. For us, these are not mere slogans, but three concrete areas for action. We want to give people more opportunities to make a difference themselves – so that they can experience how their ideas, their involvement, and their actions can actually bring about change.

Thank you for the interview.

Conclusion: All in all, one can conclude from the event that, whilst it is about the mayoral election campaign, preparations are already under way behind the scenes for the upcoming elections in 2029. That’s actually quite clever, isn’t it?