Tuesday, March 10
Two Berlin referendums launched on January 9, 2026: Berlin autofrei (car-free Berlin) and Volksbegehren Berlin werbefrei (advertising-free Berlin). The first would mean a car-free city centre and the second would mean a city with no outdoor digital advertising – two concepts that seem like they would be wildly popular. Yet halfway through their appeals, both referendums have only collected a fraction of the required signatures.
In order for the initiatives to lead to a referendum, they must collect signatures from at least seven percent of Berlin’s eligible voters by May 8. That is about 174,000 people. So far, the car-free Berlin initiative has submitted 20,800 signatures to the state election office and the advertising-free initiative has submitted 5,675.
If the initiatives do get enough signatures to lead to a referendum, new laws would be put into force if a majority of voters and at least a quarter of all eligible voters agree. The date for the referendums would be September 20, 2026.
If you would like to add your signature, find out more at www.autofreiberlin.de and www.berlin-werbefrei.de.
