GERMAN WOMEN MAYORS
In Germany only 9%
of mayors are women
By Tann vom Hove, German Brief *

Germany’s female mayors
August 2023: There is no denying it, Germany’s cities are still overwhelmingly ruled by men. After the rather short tenure of Franziska Giffey in Berlin, there is only one female mayor among the country’s top ten cities. Of the 80 Grossstädte – cities with more than 100,000 residents - only ten have women mayors. The best known one, and one of Germany’s longest-serving mayors, is Cologne’s Henriette Reker. Elected in 2015, after she survived an assassination attempt, Henriette Reker has become a role model for women in local government (Kommunalverwaltung).
Germany’s largest cities with female mayors
• Rank 4: Cologne (1,074,000) Mayor Heriette Reker
• Rank 19: Bonn (332,000) Mayor Katja Dörner
• Rank 23: Augsburg (297,000) Mayor Eva Weber
• Rank 26: Gelsenkirchen (261,000) Mayor Karin Welge
• Rank 27: Aachen (250,000) Mayor Sibylle Keupen
• Rank 32: Magdeburg (237,000) Mayor Simone Borris
• Rank 39: Rostock (209,000) Mayor Eva-Maria Kröger
• Rank 45: Ludwigshafen (173,000) Mayor Jutta Steinruck
• Rank 48: Osnabrück (166,000) Mayor Katharina Pötter
• Rank 54: Regensburg (154,000) Mayor Gertrud Malts-Schwarzfischer
Women in German local government
In 2022, research by the Berlin-based Heinrich Böll Foundation found that the number of women elected to German town and city councils (Stadträte) is increasing, albeit at a very slow rate. In 2011, women made up some 33 per cent of council members, a figure that stood at slightly above 37 per cent in 2022. Only in Kassel (Hesse), women formed a majority in the city parliament. Other cities with more than 45 per cent of female councillors include Offenbach, Frankfurt, Mainz, Nürnberg, Darmstadt and Würzburg. Communities in the Ruhr region perform below par. In cities like Gelsenkirchen, Solingen and Salzgitter women make up less than 30 per cent of local councillors.
Profile of women mayors
Germany’s most recent research into women in local government was conducted by German Brief. The survey’s authors looked at communities which are led by Lord Mayors (Oberbürgermeister). In large cities and unitary towns (kreisfreie Städte) the heads of local government carry the title Oberbürgermeister rather than Bürgermeister (mayor). The research involved some 331 cities.
German Brief found that among the 331 towns and cities surveyed only 29 (8.8%) had women as mayors. As said above, the group’s best-known member is Cologne’s mayor Henriette Reker. In office since 2015, she survived an assassination attempt during her first mayoral campaign. Prior to her election, she was deputy mayor in Gelsenkirchen and later, from 2010 to 2015, deputy mayor in Cologne. In 2020, she was elected for a second term.
Germany’s longest-serving female mayor is Cornelia Petzold-Schick, the mayor of Bruchsal (Baden-Württemberg). In 2009, it took her two rounds of voting for to be chosen, whereas eight years later, she won re-election in the first round with more than three quarters of the vote (78%). (In Baden-Württemberg, mayors serve eight-year terms).
While the number of female mayors in Germany is deplorably low, there are some hopeful signs. Since 2020, some 18 women were for the first time elected to the office of Oberbürgermeister. Among them, Eva Weber in Augsburg; Gertrud Malts-Schwarzfischer in Regensburg; Eva-Maria Kröger in Rostock; Katharina Pötter in Osnabrück; Sibylle Keupen in Aachen and Katja Dörner in Bonn.
Most women mayors have academic qualifications, mostly in law. While there are eleven mayors with legal degrees, German Brief could only identify three women who did not go to university but instead completed an apprenticeship after finishing high school.
Among the group of 29 female mayors there are eight who ran as independents. Politically, independents tend to be centrists, often supporting environmental policies. Seven mayors belong the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). The centre-right sister parties CDU and CSU can count on five mayors. The Green party is represented by two mayors, while three female mayors belong to the left-wing party Die Linke (the Left).
German political parties
• Social Democrats, SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands); centre-left
• Christian Democrats, CDU (Christlich Demokratische Union); centre-right
• Christian Social Union, CSU (Christlich Soziale Union); centre-right, sister party of the CDU, active only in Bavaria
• The Greens (Die Grünen); centre-left, environmental
• The Left (Die Linke); left-wing
• Alternative for Germany. AfD (Alternative für Deutschland); right-wing
• Free Voters (Freie Wähler); local or regional political associations, supporting mostly centre-right and conservative policies.
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Germany’s women mayors

BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG
Bruchsal
Population: 47,000
Mayor: Cornelia Petzold-Schick
In office since: 2009
Party / Politics: Independent (centre)
Notes: Born Mai 1964. Studied law. Worked for state crime office and as local government civil servant. Entered politics in 2005. Contact

Fellbach
Population: 46,000
Mayor: Gabriele Zull
In office since: 2016
Party / Politics: Independent
Notes: Born February 1967. Studied law. Worked as civil servant in local government. Entered politics in 2011. Contact

Metzingen
Population: 23,000
Mayor: Carmen Haberstroh
In office since: Since 2021
Party / Politics: Free Voters, Freie Wähler, FW, (centre-right, conservative)
Notes: Born December 1971. Studied public administration. Worked as civil servant in local and district government. Entered politics in 2016. Contact

Schramberg
Population: 21,000
Mayor: Dorothee Eisenlohr
In office since: 2019
Party / Politics: Independent (conservative)
Notes: Born March 1982. Studied languages and cultural science. Worked as freelance journalist and editor. Managerial roles in regional government and economic development. Developed an interest for politics as a teenager. Contact

Stutensee
Population: 25,000
Mayor: Petra Becker
In office since: 2018
Party / Politics: Independent (centre)
Notes: Born 1961. Studied law. Worked as lawyer in local government. Entered politics in 2018. Contact

BAYERN (Bavaria)
Augsburg
Population: 297,000
Mayor: Eva Weber
In office since: May 2020
Party / Politics: CSU (conservative)
Notes: Born May 1977. Studied law. Worked for Chamber of Commerce. Entered politics in 2014. Contact

Landsberg am Lech
Population: 30,000
Mayor: Doris Baumgartl
In office since: May 2020
Party / Politics: Independent (centre)
Notes: Born 1962. Studied public administration. Worked in local government and in public relations for municipal clinics in Munich. Entered politics in 2014. Contact

Neu-Ulm
Population: 60,000
Mayor: Katrin Albsteiger
In office since: May 2020
Party / Politics: CSU (conservative)
Notes: Born November 1983. Studied political science. Worked in corporate communication for utility company. Entered politics in 2013. Contact

Regensburg
Population: 154,000
Mayor: Gertrud Malts-Schwarzfischer
In office since: May 2020
Party / Politics: SPD (centre-left)
Notes: Born August 1960. Studied archaeology. Worked for museums and as independent archaeologist. Entered politics in 1995. Contact

MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMER
Rostock
Population: 209,000
Mayor: Eva-Maria Kröger
In office since: 2022
Party / Politics: Die Linke (left-wing)
Notes: Born June 1982. Studied political sciences. Worked as freelance journalist and later as parliamentary adviser for a number of members of the German parliament (Bundestag). Contact

NIEDERSACHSEN (Lower Saxony)
Delmenhorst
Population: 78,000
Mayor: Petra Gerlach
In office since: 2021
Party / Politics: CDU (centre-right)
Notes: Born 1972. Studied public administration. Spent most of her professional life in local government. Entered politics in 2021. Contact

Goslar
Population: 50,000
Mayor: Urte Schwerdtner
In office since: 2021
Party / Politics: SPD (centre-left)
Notes: Born September 1963. Studied law. Appointed public prosecutor and later judge. Entered politics in 2011. Contact

Lüneburg
Population: 76,000
Mayor: Claudia Kalisch
In office since: 2021
Party / Politics: Die Grünen (Greens)
Notes: Born April 1972. Studied environmental sciences and sustainability management. University post in sustainability management and worked later for a sustainable energy distributor. Entered politics in 2010. Contact

Osnabrück
Population: 166,000
Mayor: Katharina Pötter
In office since: 2021
Party / Politics: CDU (centre-right)
Notes: Born July 1979. Studied law. Worked briefly as lawyer, followed by a 12-year career in a government educational authority. Entered politics in 2001. Contact

NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN
(North Rhine-Westphalia)
Aachen
Population: 250,000
Mayor: Sibylle Keupen
In office since: 2020
Party / Politics: Independent (pro-environment)
Notes: Born 1963. Studied pedagogy and social sciences. Founder of a youth art school and managed an educational and cultural institution. Entered politics in 2020. Contact

Bonn
Population: 332,000
Mayor: Katja Dörner
In office since: 2020
Party / Politics: Die Grünen (Greens)
Notes: Born in February 1976; Studied political sciences, civic law and linguistics. Worked for a political think tank and was later appointed to the board of a children’s charity. Contact

Gelsenkirchen
Population: 261,000
Mayor: Karin Welge
In office since: 2020
Party / Politics:SPD (centre-left)
Notes: October 1962; Studied law and European integration. Taught civic administration law as well as environmental law and public finance. Entered politics in 2019. Contact

Köln (Cologne)
Population: 1,074,000
Mayor: Henriette Reker
In office since: 2015
Party / Politics: Independent (politically centre)
Notes: Born November 1956; Studied law; Worked as legal executive for a health insurer. Later worked for local government in Gelsenkirchen and Cologne. Survived an assassination attempt shortly before the 2015 election. Contact

RHEINLAND-PFALZ
(Rhineland-Palatinate)
Ludwigshafen
Population: 173,000
Mayor: Jutta Steinruck
In office since: 2018
Party / Politics: Independent. In August 2023, Steinruck left the SPD (centre-left) for personal reasons.
Notes: Born September 1962. Studied business to degree level. Worked in human resources for a stock-exchange listed company. From 2009 to 2018 member of the European Parliament. Entered politics in 1996. Contact

Speyer
Population: 51,000
Mayor: Stefanie Seiler
In office since: 2019
Party / Politics: SPD (centre-left)
Notes: Born August 1983. Studied sociology. Was appointed to a number of positions within the local and regional SPD party. Entered politics in 2002. Contact

SAARLAND
Völklingen
Population: 40,000
Mayor: Christiane Blatt
In office since: 2017
Party / Politics: SPD (centre-left)
Notes: Born January 1966. Apprenticeship in commerce. Certified foreign language secretary. Entered politics in 2002. Contact

SACHSEN (Saxony)
Dippoldiswalde
Population: 14,100
Mayor: Kerstin Körner
In office since: 2019
Party / Politics: CDU (centre-right)
Notes: Born in 1971. Studied civic administration.

Niesky
Population: 9,200
Mayor: Kathrin Ulemann
In office since: 2022
Party / Politics: Independent (centre-right)
Notes: Born 1977. Studied bio-chemistry. Worked for German overseas aid organisation in Kyrgistan and Tajikistan. Contact

Zwickau
Population: 87,000
Mayor: Constance Arndt
In office since: 2020
Party / Politics: Citizens for Zwickau (centre)
Notes: Born July 1977. Apprenticeship in retail management. Worked for a number of food and fashion retailers. From 2014 to 2020 member of the city council. Entered politics in 2013. Contact

SACHSEN-ANHALT
(Saxony-Anhalt)
Bernburg
Population: 32,000
Mayor: Silvia Ristow
In office since: 2022
Party / Politics: Die Linke (left-wing)
Notes: Born 1963. Studied agricultural management and finance. Entered politics in former East Germany. Became a member of the SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany). Since 2007 member of the district council. Contact

Magdeburg
Population: 237,000
Mayor: Simone Borris
In office since: 2022
Party / Politics: Independent (centrist-green)
Notes: Born December 1962. Apprenticeship in banking followed by studies in economics. Started work for the City of Magdeburg in 1990. Contact

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN
Norderstedt
Population: 81,000
Mayor: Elke Christiana Roeder
In office since: 2018
Party / Politics: SPD (centre-left)
Notes: Born November 1966. Studied banking law. Worked as merger and acquisition (M&A) manager in London. Mayor of Bad Pyrmont from 2006 to 2014. Entered politics in 2006. Contact

THÜRINGEN (Thuringia)
Eisenach
Population: 42,000
Mayor: Katja Wolf
In office since: 2012
Party / Politics: Die Linke (left-wing)
Notes: Born March 1976. Studied social pedagogy. Member of the state parliament of Thuringia between 1999 and 2012. Entered politics in 1999. Contact
* Methodology
The research was carried out by German Brief during April, May and June of 2023. Sources include Wikipedia, newspaper articles, information provided by cities and political parties as well as personal contributions by individual mayors.
© Copyright: All content is protected by worldwide copyright. Please contact the editor if you wish to use any material from the German Brief website.
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