We’re aware that many of you won’t be able to cast a vote in this upcoming state election. But for those who can vote (you lucky ducks), and for those looking to keep up when brushing shoulders with your politically astute friends, we’ve interviewed Berlin’s four leading candidates. After all, even if the system can stop you from voting, it can’t stop you from being informed about who each candidate would most like to play tennis with.
If you’d like some help deciding how to vote, check out Berlin’s election compass.
Elif Eralp – Die Linke
Ms Eralp, you’ve been a member of Die Linke for less than 10 years, have only been in the Berlin House of Representatives for five and this autumn you could potentially become governing mayor. Does the pace ever make your head spin?
It’s a huge responsibility, and sometimes I think to myself, ‘Wow, what am I actually doing here?’ But I’m really enjoying it, and I want to change our city together with its people.
You want to move quickly on making large privately owned housing companies publicly owned. When will the first company be expropriated?
I can’t give you a specific date for when we will have socialised the first housing company. It will take time to gather all of the relevant data – before we know exactly which property owners hold more than 3,000 apartments and where those properties are located. But one thing is clear: we’ll start working on it from day one.
Steffen Krach of the SPD says there would be no expropriations with him.
I can’t quite understand how he intends to ignore the wishes of 60% of Berliners who voted in the referendum. His own party also has similar positions on this, so he should reconsider his position, not us.
‘Make Berlin Affordable Again’ is your motto. How will you pay for it? Tax the rich, plus fiscal equalisation between the federal states?
Above all, we want to put pressure on the federal government and the Bundestag to finally reintroduce a wealth tax. That alone would bring Berlin €5.5 billion. On the state level, we want to introduce a luxury-villa tax for properties worth at least €4 million. We want to increase the Grunderwerbssteuer [real estate transfer tax] for those properties. We also want to introduce a tax on undeveloped land. What’s important is that we increase revenue, and we have several ideas for doing that.
Berlin’s debt stands at €67 billion, and there’s a €6 billion hole in next year’s budget. Bavaria and Hesse are also taking legal action over the fiscal equalisation system. Things are going to get very tight.
Of course we’ll take a very close look at it. First, we’ll reprioritise. For example, €6 million just for an Olympic bid is a complete waste of money, and Berlin would face considerably more costs on top of that. Second, there are still areas where we can save – for example, on bureaucracy. And third, we have to increase revenue.
You were born in Munich, grew up in Dortmund and studied in Hamburg. Which experiences shaped you most?
My parents’ experience as refugees had a profound influence on me.
My parents’ experience as refugees had a profound influence on me. They had to completely start from scratch here and build a new life. We repeatedly experienced discrimination from public authorities. In Dortmund and Hamburg, we often had people visiting us who had fled here themselves, or who had come as what we call ‘Gästarbeiter’ [guest workers] and told us that they weren’t receiving the same wages as everyone else. Those injustices shaped and politicised me from an early age.
What happened to your idea of making a sister city agreement with a Palestinian city?
I still think it’s a good idea, but it ultimately depends on whether or not I become governing mayor and can pursue it.
Would you maintain the city partnership with Tel Aviv?
Yes, because I think it’s important for people to remain in contact with one another. I’m very much in favour of expanding city partnerships generally, in order to strengthen dialogue with different civil societies, non-governmental organisations and with people in different cities.
How much Zohran Mamdani is there in you?
As a woman, I’m reluctant to compare myself to a man. But of course, he’s a role model for me – particularly his campaign, which brought very different communities together around key social demands and generated so much enthusiasm and a sense of shared identity. We’ve also been in contact with his team.
Will the Middle East conflict have an impact on the election?
It’s an issue that matters to many people, myself included. Neukölln is also home to many people who have fled wars – from the Middle East, Sudan or Afghanistan. That’s why the district branch has addressed the issue on its posters. I’m responsible for Berlin state politics, but of course I want peace, and I want to pursue an inclusive politics that recognises and incorporates the perspectives of all Berliners.
Your federal co-chair Luigi Pantisano accused the CDU of “fascist politics”. Is the Berlin CDU far right?
No. But it does adopt some demands and formulations from the AfD and pushes motions through Parliament together with them. In Mitte, they put up posters saying, ‘Reading, Writing, Arithmetic Instead of Gendering’. And that was after the CSD attack. I find that pretty outrageous.
The question I’m asking all the potential candidates for mayor: who would you play doubles tennis with?
All Berliners.
Ms Eralp, that doesn’t work in doubles!
All right then, Werner Graf. To be honest, I’m not a very good tennis player. But that’s something you can learn too.
For more information, visit Die Linke’s website.
Werner Graf – Die Grünen
Your campaign slogan is ‘Raus aus dem Rückwärts’, which roughly translates to ‘Out of Reverse Gear’. What on earth does that mean?
Berlin has genuinely gone backwards over the past three years, particularly under the CDU government. They’re ripping out cycling lanes. They’re wielding the red pen. And they’re cutting the very things that make Berlin what it is: art, culture and science. Nothing is being done to protect tenants. More trees are being cut down than planted. We want Berlin to have a presence in the world again. We want to be able to measure ourselves against Paris, New York and other cities again. But the opposite is happening at the moment.
Given the dramatic heatwaves this summer, shouldn’t Die Grünen be pushing the issue of climate policy much harder?
Climate change hasn’t gone away just because nobody wants to talk about it any more. Friedrich Merz recently said that protecting the climate is all very well but it mustn’t harm the economy. However, we can see that not protecting the climate is bad for the economy. I spoke to people in the wholesale sector today. They told me that the biggest problem they have is the soaring gas prices. That’s why they want to switch to electric transportation, but they need the infrastructure to do that.
Die Grünen have moved a long way towards Die Linke on the socialisation of large housing companies, as well as on social and transport policy. How frustrating is it that Die Linke are now leading the polls?
We’ve changed our strategy a little for this election. In the past, we won the polls and lost the elections. This time, we’re going to do it the other way round.
Well then, nothing can go wrong.
I wouldn’t smoke weed as mayor. I’d need a clear head.
We’re fighting for Berliners on housing policy. And we’re prepared, like Die Linke, to take tough measures. But ‘Out of Reverse Gear’ stands for much more than that. We want Berlin to be designed in a way that keeps it liveable, even as it gets hotter and hotter. We don’t want anyone to die in traffic anymore. We want buses and trains to run on time again. We want art and culture to flourish again. We want to strengthen science again. That’s what really matters to us.
And yet Die Linke now dominates Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, the heartland of Die Grünen. Are you glad Hans-Christian Ströbele doesn’t have to witness this?
I knew Ströbele very well, and that’s precisely why I know that we always had to win people over here again and again. So we’ll win the constituency back; I’m sure of it.
And then will you be standing outside Vonovia’s door alongside Die Linke, running around with ‘Expropriate!’ signs?
We’ve always said that we want to implement the referendum. Sixty percent of Berliners said they wanted to see the ‘Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.’ referendum implemented. We feel bound by that mandate.
You’re from the Oberpfalz, and you can really hear it in your accent. Have you ever thought about practising your Berlin dialect?
There’s nothing more embarrassing than newcomers suddenly starting to speak like Berliners. What matters more is that I love Berlin. I moved here because Berlin is the coolest city in the world, because I can live freely here, because I can walk through the streets holding hands with my husband, because the city is open to people from everywhere. Another reason was the club scene.
Where did you go clubbing back then?
My first regular club was Ostgut, the predecessor to Berghain. That’s where I fell in love with techno.
When was the last time you actually smoked a joint?
Oof, no idea. Probably sometime last year. I can’t remember exactly when. Definitely not this year. I used to publish the Hanf-Journal, and I’m still fighting for the legalisation of cannabis. We’ve made good progress on that now. But we can go another step or two further.
Would you be Berlin’s first openly weed-smoking governing mayor?
I don’t know what the others have gotten up to. And I wouldn’t smoke weed as mayor. I’d need a clear head.
Following the far-left attack on the electricity grid in January, you came out in favour of video surveillance and AI solutions for critical infrastructure. That probably sounds a little unusual coming from the left for a Kreuzberg Die Grünen supporter, doesn’t it?
We shouldn’t reject technological advances on principle, but we shouldn’t simply expand surveillance indiscriminately either. We should use it where it makes sense. That sometimes bothers me in the debate about internal security. Whenever something happens, everyone starts making demands without taking a breath and analysing what actually happened and what would make sense first. Unfortunately, we saw that again after the attack on CSD, even though there are still so many unanswered questions.
There were some takes from the left-wing camp blaming far-right ideology for the perpetrator.
That’s complete nonsense. It was an Islamist attack, and nothing else.
I’m asking all four potential candidates this question. If you had to play a mixed doubles tennis match, who would you most like to have on your side of the net: Elif Eralp from Die Linke, Steffen Krach from the SPD or Stefan Evers from the CDU?
Elif. Mixed doubles is always rather nice.
For more information, visit Die Grünen’s website.
Stefan Evers – CDU
Mr Evers, you didn’t particularly want to become finance senator, you didn’t particularly want to take on culture and you didn’t particularly want to become the CDU’s lead candidate after Kai Wegner’s Waterloo. Are you burning with ambition for the job of governing mayor, or is this just how things have turned out?
I’m passionate about Berlin. I love this city. I’d give everything for it. That has always been my motivation, and now more than ever.
Is Die Linke the devil incarnate as far as you’re concerned?
There will be no place for extremists in this city under me, whether they’re on the far right or far left. I consider Berlin’s Die Linke dangerous. It openly tolerates antisemitism within its ranks. Antisemitism is extremism. It portrays the police as the enemy and wants to abolish der Verfassungsschutz als Geheimdienst [the domestic intelligence service]. Why do you think that is? It considers mass expropriation to be housing policy, yet the debate over expropriation has already led to fewer homes being built. Die Linke is making the very crisis it then exploits with populist rhetoric even worse. That’s cynical. It’s the opposite of common sense.
Die Linke has Ikkimel as a supporter. Who have you got? Dieter Hallervorden?
We have common sense.
Talking of streets, Die Grünen accuse the CDU of having a backwards mentality, particularly on transport policy. They do have a point there, don’t they? Removing cycling lanes, scrapping 30 km/h zones, and then there was that emphasis on ‘Consideration for Motorists’ on CDU posters at the beginning of the year…
I found the referendum campaign more bizarre. ‘Car-free Berlin’ wanted to ban cars throughout the entire city centre, with support from large sections of Die Grünen. We made our position very clear: no bans. Berlin is for everyone. Motorists included.
And for that, you cut culture disproportionately – by 13%. Some organisations only found out shortly before Christmas 2024 that they wouldn’t receive the funding they had been promised in the new year. Does the CDU simply not care about culture?
Quite the opposite. Berlin wouldn’t be Berlin without its culture. But during the years of the SPD-Grün-Linke government, Berlin also papered over many structural problems in cultural policy with money it simply didn’t have. Yes, the institutions should have been brought into the process earlier and prepared for the new reality. Years earlier, in fact. That’s why we’ve now established a cultural dialogue. It needs to continue.
Do you get on the guest list for the Schlager Night at the Waldbühne, or do they charge you double for your ticket?
I’m happy to pay for my tickets – that’s what culture lives on. It should be worth something to all of us.
You grew up in Paderborn. What can Berlin learn from Paderborn? Cleanliness perhaps?
Berlin is for everyone. Motorists included.
Berlin was never sterile. But the increasing amount of rubbish really gets on my nerves. It’s about how we treat our city. Politically, we’ve already put important measures in place. We’ve massively increased fines and provided more staff for enforcement. Unfortunately, we need more monitoring, including CCTV at rubbish hotspots. If it were up to me, we’d follow Vienna’s example and turn thousands of our employees into part-time ‘waste watchers’ or ‘rubbish sheriffs’. Together with BSR, I also want to expand programmes that enable people receiving state benefits to contribute to keeping our city clean. Everyone has something to contribute.
Which political symbol is more ridiculous: Die Grünen’s car-free Friedrichstraße or the fence in Görlitzer Park that the CDU was so determined to have?
Only the closure of Friedrichstraße is a political symbol. And yes, it was ridiculous.
Why have AfD poll ratings doubled since the rerun election?
Support for political extremes is growing across the board. That has to do with the loss of trust in political institutions and in our democracy. That’s precisely what concerns me, what motivates me and what I want to change.
It’s remarkable that the CDU has just now discovered tenant rights. Did you ignore the Wild West of the housing market for too long in your obsession with ‘Build, Build, Build’?
Why ‘discovered’? We need both. We’ll only solve the housing problem if we also build new homes. And of course we need to make sure that tenant-protection laws are actually enforced. That’s classic law-and-order politics.
But Die Linke’s slogan ‘Stop Rip-Off Rents’ packs more of a punch, doesn’t it? As does the SPD’s ‘Rent Madness’.
I have no time for scaremongering. I don’t pretend things are simpler than they are. I tell people what the solution looks like. Populism around expropriation that ultimately leads to even higher rents isn’t my thing.
Which of the four politically viable candidates for the Rotes Rathaus would you play tennis doubles with?
We did pretty well together with the SPD.
For more information, visit Stefan Ever’s website.
Steffen Krach – SPD
Mr Krach, your posters say ‘The Next Governing Mayor’. We’re currently seeing the SPD at 12%. When was that slogan dreamed up?
We’ve never exactly be doing brilliantly… but we’ll turn that around.
…or how many drinks had you had?
No, the whole thing happened without alcohol, and we’re firmly convinced that we can still make up ground during the final six weeks.
Will your moving van be sitting outside the SPD state headquarters, the Kurt Schumacher House, with its engine running at 6pm on September 20, when the first election projection results come in?
Where to? Rotes Rathaus? Immediately!
I was thinking more of Hanover, where you’re still regional president.
My family lives here, my children were born here, they go to school and nursery here. I’ve gone all in. Berlin is an amazing city. There’s no going back now.
You’re touring around in a red campaign VW. How many miles are you clocking up?
Loads. In the last few days alone, I’ve been to all 12 districts at least once. Some of them several times.
‘We Can Give Berlin its Legendary Coolness Back’, you’ve written. Coming from the ol’ SPD! Funny.
I’m not the ol’ auntie SPD – this is my first time standing here. I know we’ve been in government here for 37 years; I’m reminded of that several times at every campaign stall. But I’m not looking to the past now, I’m looking to the future. We can talk about all the mistakes. The SPD-Die-Linke coalition sold flats back then, flogging them off to the big housing companies…
Under Klaus Wowereit. With Die Linke!
It was a mistake. I’d also like to hear that from Die Linke’s lead candidate. But giving the companies billions now to expropriate them? I have a strong sense of injustice about that. I’d rather take money away from them through hefty fines when they rip off tenants or allow flats to fall into disrepair.
It’s a bit awkward that the SPD has an official party resolution in favour of making the companies publicly owned…
I said at my very first press conference on September 1 last year that I didn’t consider it the right approach. So that shouldn’t surprise anyone. It’s not my intention to wait eight or 10 years for the legal battles to be resolved, which will probably go all the way to the Bundesverfassungsgericht [the Constitutional Court]. Our manifesto sets out a better and faster route, with extremely tough enforcement and penalties.
On housing, you’re opting for thumbscrews rather than the sword of Damocles. A housing and rent register, rent police, eventually a rent cap…
I’d love to walk across Tempelhofer Feld with a surfboard under my arm, flip-flops and shorts, heading for the surf wave after leaving the Rotes Rathaus.
If the federal government comes to its senses. I want a rent cap for Berlin. The federal government just needs to give us the authority. But even our rent register will be an absolute game-changer. Nothing like it exists anywhere else in Germany at the moment. We’ll record every flat and every rental agreement. That will allow you to see everywhere that tenants are being ripped off, where properties are lying empty and where there are illegal holiday rentals. Then there will be hefty fines and rents will come down. That’s immediate relief for 1.8 million tenants! Let’s vote for that on September 20!
‘Immediate’ is relative. The register will still take years and the procurement process for the software hasn’t even started yet. And we know how long that sort of thing takes in Berlin.
I’ve read that too. A few days ago, I was on a panel with some startups. They were absolutely killing themselves laughing. Four years! We have the expertise here, by the way, for transport management and roadworks management too. That’s why I’ve said we’re going to bring the best hackers from our startups into City Hall. They can digitise the administration. I’m saying the register will be up and running in July 2027.
Is it really true that, unlike many people in the SPD, you not only oppose building around the edges of Tempelhofer Feld, but you also dream of putting a surf wave there?
I want to turn Tempelhofer Feld into a proper park – one for the ages. More trees, culture and sports, urban gardening, a treetop walkway – and yes, a surf wave. Wouldn’t that be amazing? I’d love to walk across Tempelhofer Feld with a surfboard under my arm, flip-flops and shorts, heading for the surf wave after leaving the Rotes Rathaus. Wonderful. There’s already a company in Berlin that operates something like that indoors. I also want to bring a university into the airport building, with 20,000 students training to become teachers.
Why should people believe the SPD can now pull off the big coup when it has botched all the little ones over the years?
I want Berlin to be more ambitious. Small and big ideas. I was state secretary for science and research for seven years. For example, we established the Berliner Institut für Gesundheitsforschung [Berlin Institute of Health Research]; no other federal state has one, and everyone envies us for it. We’re currently building Europe’s most modern heart centre. And there were people who said, “You won’t manage it.” I said, “Yes, we will!”
Which of your three political rivals would you most like at your side in a tennis doubles match?
I don’t think any of them can play tennis. I know for a fact that I’d beat all three of them. But if you’re asking: Werner Graf. Then the CDU and Die Linke can see whether they can actually work together after all.
For more information, visit the SPD’s website.
Article translated to English by Eoin Schaefer.
