Papenburg: results of the 2026 local elections and the 2025 federal election
In the local elections on 13 September 2026, CDU became the largest group on the council of Papenburg with 32.8% (12 of 38 seats).
In the federal election on 23 February 2025, CDU led in Papenburg with 31.0% of the second votes, SPD took 21.8%.
- Turnout81.0% · Emsland (Wkr. 025, 031) 85.2% · Germany 82.5%
- Voters20,984 of 25,902 eligible voters
- Stands out against Lower SaxonyGrüne −3.5 · CDU +2.9 · AfD +2.2
- First votes: leadingCDU candidate
- Constituency25 Unterems
2026 local elections in Papenburg
On 13 September 2026, Lower Saxony elected its councils, district councils, mayors and district administrators. Below, the preliminary result for Papenburg, as of 18.09.2026 11:18. All districts and municipalities: Lower Saxony local elections 2026.
- Largest group: city councilCDU 32.8% · 12 of 38 seats
- MayorVanessa Gattung (SPD), 68.9%
- District council, votes from PapenburgCDU 31.1%
- Turnout58.7% · district council election 58.6%
- CDU32.8% · 12 seats
- SPD26.2% · 10 seats
- AfD17.3% · 7 seats
- GRÜNE7.4% · 3 seats
- Die Linke5.3% · 2 seats
- FDP5.2% · 2 seats
- UBF1.7% · 1 seat
- UWG Papenburg1.5% · 1 seat
- Volt1.3%
- FREIE WÄHLER0.6%
- Walker, Einzelwahlvorschlag0.4%
- Kötter, Einzelwahlvorschlag0.3%
- Glöckner, Einzelwahlvorschlag0.1%
Turnout 58.7% · 30,687 eligible voters · 38 seats · Official final result · 48 of 48 results
Source: Stadt Papenburg, Local elections 2026, official results presentation (votemanager) (file), final result, retrieved 24 Sep 2026, official work, § 5 UrhG. Electoral authority status: 18.09.2026 11:18. Electoral authority's result portal: https://votemanager.kdo.de/20260913/03454041/praesentation/ Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Mayoral election Papenburg
- Gattung, SPD68.9%
- Wendt, CDU16.6%
- Nee, Einzelwahlvorschlag10.4%
- Reiners, UBF4.1%
Turnout 58.7% · 30,687 eligible voters · Official final result · 48 of 48 results
District council and district administrator: the votes from Papenburg
How voters locally voted in the district election. The overall result for Emsland is on the district page.
District council election
- CDU31.1%
- SPD26.3%
- AfD18.3%
- GRÜNE9.2%
- FDP6.2%
- Die Linke4.4%
- UWG Emsland1.6%
- Volt1.6%
- FREIE WÄHLER0.7%
- Walker, Einzelwahlvorschlag0.6%
Turnout 58.6% · 30,749 eligible voters · 48 of 48 results
District administrator election
Run-off on 27 September 2026.
- Burgdorf, CDU40.9%
- Außel, SPD27.3%
- Minich, AfD19.0%
- Engelken, GRÜNE9.1%
- Meyer, FDP3.6%
Turnout 58.6% · 30,749 eligible voters · 48 of 48 results
Second votes in Papenburg
Shares in percent of valid second votes, deviation from the state result in points. Others: all parties not listed individually.
- CDU31.0%+2.9
- SPD21.8%-1.2
- AfD20.0%+2.2
- Grüne8.0%-3.5
- Linke7.9%-0.2
- FDP4.3%+0.2
- BSW3.9%+0.1
- Freie Wähler0.7%-0.1
- Volt0.4%-0.2
- Others1.9%-0.3
Change compared with the result in Lower Saxony.
| Party | Votes | Share | District | Lower Saxony | Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 6,461 | 31.0% | 41.4% | 28.1% (+2.9) | 22.6% (+8.4) |
| SPD | 4,551 | 21.8% | 18.2% | 23.0% (-1.2) | 16.4% (+5.4) |
| AfD | 4,171 | 20.0% | 16.6% | 17.8% (+2.2) | 20.8% (-0.8) |
| Grüne | 1,660 | 8.0% | 7.5% | 11.5% (-3.5) | 11.6% (-3.6) |
| Linke | 1,652 | 7.9% | 6.1% | 8.1% (-0.2) | 8.8% (-0.9) |
| FDP | 900 | 4.3% | 4.4% | 4.1% (+0.2) | 4.3% (±0) |
| BSW | 821 | 3.9% | 3.0% | 3.8% (+0.1) | 5.0% (-1.1) |
| Freie Wähler | 156 | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% (-0.1) | – |
| Volt | 76 | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.6% (-0.2) | – |
| Others | 403 | 1.9% | 1.7% | 2.2% (-0.3) | 10.6% (-8.7) |
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2025 federal election, results by polling district (file), final result, retrieved 7 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Municipal results are the sum of a municipality's polling districts including the postal-vote districts assigned to it. State and federal results: Federal Returning Officer, kerg2.csv, official final result. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Papenburg: location in the Emsland district
All municipalities of the district, coloured by the strongest party of the second votes. Papenburg highlighted. Tap to open a neighbouring municipality.