Germany: CDU ahead in Lower Saxony local election

Germany: CDU ahead in Lower Saxony local election Published September 11, 2026last updated September 14, 2026What you need to know - The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is projected to win local elections in the state of Lower Saxony - The SPD is set to come second, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to follow in third - The municipal vote has been in the national spotlight after a landslide win for the AfD in state elections in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt - A new poll has shown that the far-right party is continuing to gain in popularity nationwide - Shipping problems caused by low water levels in the Rhine could take a big economic toll this year, according to experts - Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that truth and lies are increasingly being blurred, including by people in power - Merkel acknowledged that some decisions during her time as chancellor helped fuel support for the AfD Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on the weekend of Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13: Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add DW as a Preferred Source on Google. CDU ahead in Lower Saxony municipal elections, projection says Municipal elections in Lower Saxony provided a sigh of relief to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), currently in the spotlight in the wake of gains by the far-right AfD in the state of Saxony-Anhalt regional elections last week. According to a projection by Infratest dimap published by German broadcaster NDR, the CDU held 27.7% of the vote, ahead of the SPD at 24.5% and the AfD, with 16.5%. The Greens came in fourth with 13.6%, followed by The Left at 5.9% and the FDP 3.6%. CDU state leader Sebastian Lechner was optimistic hours before the projections were released, saying the CDU could buck the national trend in Lower Saxony. "As you know, these local elections did not exactly take place under easy circumstances. We, too, have noticed the discontent over Berlin," Lechner said, acknowledging that his party had a "credibility problem" that should be addressed. The results in Lower Saxony was being closely watched by Chancellor Merz, especially as his CDU is expected to face a debacle next Sunday in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where support for the party recently plummeted to 7% in polls CSU leader says stagnation fuels AfD, calls on Merz to 'step it up' Bavarian State Premier and Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Markus Söder warned about the political consequences of the far-right AfD's recent win in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. "There could be no better invitation — a penalty kick with no goalkeeper — for the AfD at this point," Söder asserted. "Pull ourselves together and step it up a notch," he added. Söder made the comments ahead of a closed-door meeting of the CSU executive committee in Munich on Sunday. The Bavarian leader, whose conservative CSU is a sister party to the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that government work must become better and faster; mistakes must be avoided; communication must improve and focus "on the essentials. That could lead to success." Söder said the Saxony-Anhalt result must be seen as a wake-up call that cannot be ignored. More optimism is needed now, "but we already know what the hour has struck." "Stagnation is the best fuel for the AfD," he added. Söder said high energy prices in particular are a reason for urgent action: developments in Saudi Arabia "could mean once again that we must urgently address the issue of energy prices in Germany, because they cannot remain at this high level in the long term." Lower Saxony local elections: Initial results trickle in The mayoral election in Wolfsburg, home to the global headquarters of German car giant Volkswagen, has now been decided. According to public broadcaster NDR, incumbent Dennis Weilmann (CDU) won with 50.1% of the vote and will therefore remain mayor. He won by a wide margin over Karsten Schneider (SPD) and Thomas Schlick (AfD), who received 15.5% and 14.1%, respectively. Weilmann has been in office since 2021. Meanwhile, according to the preliminary final results, a runoff election is necessary for the mayoral race in Oldenburg. Ulf Prange (SPD) and Jascha Rohr, an independent candidate, who were considered favorites, received the most votes. Prange secured 33.16% of the vote, while Rohr trailed closely behind with 30.54%. For the first time, a woman has been elected mayor of Wilhelmshaven, which is home to Germany's largest naval base. Eva Maria Haarmann (Independent) won approximately 55% of the vote. Volker Block (SPD) received just under 22%. Germany loses to Spain in third-place game of women's basketball World Cup Spain won the bronze medal at the women's basketball World Cup in Berlin, beating the host team, Germany, 81-58. Spain dominated their spirited opponents. Top scorer Iyana Martin was one assist away from a double-double with 20 points and a game-best nine assists. The Germans fought back to trail by just four at halftime, but Spain held the hosts to just 22 points in the second half to secure the victory. Later on Sunday, the 11-time champion United States will face first-time finalist France in a rematch of the gold medal match from the 2024 Paris Olympics, which the Americans won 67:66. Significantly higher voter turnout in Lower Saxony local elections The polling station closed at 6:00 p.m. (16:00 GMT) for the Lower Saxony local elections. One and a half hours before closing, at 4:30 p.m., voter turnout stood at 50.67%, meaning that one in two eligible voters had cast their ballot. According to the state election commission, turnout was only 43.99% at the same time in the 2021 elections. The Commission described this as a "significant increase." The overall turnout for the 2021 local elections, including postal votes, was 57%. Lower Saxony local election: Voters face long wait times Voter turnout in Lower Saxony has been higher than it was during the 2021 local elections. In some places, voters had to wait to cast their ballots. According to NDR reporters, wait times in Hanover's Südstadt district were as long as 40 minutes. Long lines formed at polling places in Hanover and other locations. The polling stations will close at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT). The initial results from the direct mayoral elections are not expected until 7 p.m., while the preliminary statewide district results are not expected until Monday morning. Politicians outraged by apparent antisemitic attack in Berlin Politicians have reacted with horror to an apparent antisemitic attack in Berlin on the night into Friday. A group of men verbally abused a woman with antisemitic slurs on Torstrasse in the central district of Mitte before one of them attacked the 43-year-old with a broken bottle, according to police. The Left Party in Berlin stated that this particular weekend — when Jews celebrate the New Year holiday of Rosh Hashanah — should "be filled with joy, hope, and a sense of new beginnings. Instead, a Jewish woman in Berlin had to defend herself against physical violence." The party stressed that it was unacceptable and added that wearing a Star of David must "always and everywhere be possible without danger." Meanwhile, Werner Graf, leader of the Green Party faction in the Berlin House of Representatives, spoke about the "growing antisemitism coming from all political quarters." Graf said one of the next state government's "central tasks" would be to intensify the fight against antisemitism. Elections for the Berlin House of Representatives and the district councils will be held this coming weekend. Hiker convinced of bear attack at sound of rutting deer A hiker in the German Alps was convinced he was about to be attacked by bears on Saturday evening, prompting him to call a police hotline. On the open line from a trail near Bad Hindelang, in southern Germany's Allgäu region, officers from the Kempten police department listened to the man's desperate pleas for help and quickly realized that it was not a pack of marauding bears making the ruckus — something that would have been highly unusual — but rather, rutting stags doing their "unmistakable" roaring best to attract a partner on a mating season Saturday night. Police on Sunday said that they had eventually been able to assure the man that he was in no danger, encouraging him to continue along his way while keeping a safe distance from the excited deer. SPD politician calls for price cap on gas The ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East caused gas prices in Germany to rise even higher over the weekend. According to data from the fuel price portal Tankerkönig, the average price of E10 premium gasoline was €2.27 ($2.64) per liter nationwide on Saturday. The data also showed that drivers paid an average of just under €2.40 for diesel. These prices are in line with the record highs of E10 premium gasoline from March 2022 and just below the record high of diesel from April of this year. Brandenburg state premier Dietmar Woidke believes that high gas prices must be capped quickly. “We urgently need a cap on gas prices,” the Social Democratic Party (SPD) politician told the dpa news agency. "It's unacceptable for oil companies to rake in windfall profits while millions of commuters struggle with fuel prices that are far too high," he added. From early May through late June, a fuel rebate of 16.7 cents per liter was in effect in Germany. According to an estimate by the Ministry of Finance, this cost the federal government approximately €1.6 billion. However, the federal government has rejected a renewal of the program. Turnout in Lower Saxony higher than in the last election The voter turnout in the local election in Lower Saxony appears to be slightly higher than in the previous election. According to the tally released by the State Election Commission at 12:30 p.m., the turnout was 24.60%. This figure is 3.31 percentage points higher than the turnout in the last local election five years ago. At that time, voter turnout was 21.29%. More protests planned against AfD and far right Demonstrators plan to take to the streets in Dresden and Kiel on Sunday as part of a weekend of protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and populist ideologies. The rallies have largely been prompted by the recent landslide win by the AfD in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the party has been classified as "confirmed right-wing extremist" by the state domestic intelligence agency. In Dresden, the capital of the eastern state of Saxony, where support for the AfD is also strong, a demonstration is planned in the square in front of the city's iconic Semperoper under the motto "Time for action." In Kiel, situated on the Baltic Sea, unions, environmental associations and other groups have called for a protest with the slogan "Not again is now!" in reference to the wish to avoid a repeat of Germany's Nazi period. Organizers say they want to show "solidarity with all those affected in Saxony-Anhalt" and send a clear signal of opposition to the AfD and its far-right ideology, which many see as anti-democratic. On Saturday, there were particularly large demonstrations in Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich, with other smaller rallies taking place in Magdeburg — the capital of Saxony-Anhalt — Leipzig, Mainz and Saarbrücken, along with other places. In Hamburg, some 25,000 people took part and in Düsseldorf around 20,000, according to police estimates. Asylum approval rates climb as applications sink The number of new asylum applications in Germany has fallen sharply but the rate of approvals has risen again, according to the latest official figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). Altogether 39,646 people put in first-time applications for asylum in Germany in the first half of 2026, a steep drop from the 72,818 applications filed in the same period last year. However, 47.4% of the applications in the first half of this year were approved, as compared with 37.5% of applications in 2025 as a whole. Families applying for asylum had particular success, accounting for 45.6% of the positive decisions. The approval rate for people from Afghanistan — the main country of origin for asylum applicants in the first of the year — was 89.3%, with protection granted to Afghan women in nearly 95% of cases. This can be attributed to a European Court of Justice decision in 2024 that women from Afghanistan are generally entitled to protection because they are at risk of gender-based persecution under the Taliban regime. Low Rhine water levels expected to cause 'immense' economic damage The continuing low water levels on the Rhine — a key transport waterway for Germany — are likely to cause grave damage to the country's economy this year, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. "It is a truly critical situation," spokeswoman Nicole Rabold said. "Whether the damage will exceed that of 2018 remains to be seen," she said, but added that the economic harm was already expected to be "immense." 2018 saw a previous record low of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) measured at the key water gauge at Kaub, a major transport chokepoint. The level at the Kaub gauge, which indicates the viability of freight shipping to operators, is currently still below 25 cm, while earlier this year, it even fell into single digits. The river becomes nearly unusable for freight transport at a gauge level of 35 cm, though operators are free to take their own decisions on whether to continue with shipping. The low water levels have been caused by a lack of rainfall and have led to a virtual collapse of freight shipping on the waterway, driving up costs for the industries that rely on waterborne supplies of raw materials. Far-right AfD increases lead over conservatives — poll A new nationwide opinion poll released on Sunday has shown further gains for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party following its major win in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt last week. The populist opposition party climbed one percentage point to reach 29%, with the conservative bloc of Chancellor Friedrich Merz — made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) — remaining unchanged at 20%. The opposition Green Party was the only other major party to improve its popularity rating, gaining one point to reach 14% and overtake junior coalition party the Social Democrats (SPD) on 13%. The Left party was also unchanged at 10%. The next federal election is scheduled for 2029. The survey was carried out by the polling institute Insa and commissioned by the Bild tabloid. Lower Saxony local polls under scrutiny after far-right win Residents in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony are voting for mayors, district administrators and local councils in elections that are drawing unusual attention after the far-right Alternative for Germany's (AfD's) huge win in Saxony-Anhalt last week. The local polls come ahead of key state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on September 20 that will also be closely watched as the AfD gains popularity across the country. However, the party still has much less support in western states than in those in what used to be communist East Germany, with the AfD achieving just 4.6% at district level in the 2021 local elections in Lower Saxony. Some 6.3 million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's elections. The massive job cuts taking place at car manufacturer Volkswagen are likely to loom large in voters' minds, as Lower Saxony is home to Volkswagen's HQ and six of its plants, as well as being a key shareholder in the company. Any run-off elections will take place across the state on September 27.