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%.
- Population
- 36,972 · 312 per km²
- Turnout
- 81.0% · Emsland (Wkr. 025, 031) 85.2% · Germany 82.5%
- Voters
- 20,984 of 25,902 eligible voters
- Stands out against Lower Saxony
- Grüne −3.5 · CDU +2.9 · AfD +2.2
- First votes: leading
- CDU candidate
- Constituency
- 25 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 25.09.2026 14:41. All districts and municipalities: Lower Saxony local elections 2026.
- Largest group: city council
- CDU 32.8% · 12 of 38 seats
- Mayor
- Vanessa Gattung (SPD), 68.9%
- District council, votes from Papenburg
- CDU 31.1%
- Turnout
- 58.7% · district council election 58.6%
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 31 Oct 2026, official work, § 5 UrhG. Electoral authority status: 25.09.2026 14:41. 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
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.
Where do these figures come from?
Official results of the 2025 federal election from the Federal Returning Officer's polling-district statistics, aggregated to the municipality. Postal votes counted by a joint administration are shown on that administration's page.
What does the comparison show?
The lighter bar is the state result of the same election, so you can see where the area differs from its state. Differences are in percentage points.
| 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.
2024 European election in Papenburg
In the European election on 9 June 2024, CDU came first in Papenburg with 38.2% of the vote; in Lower Saxony CDU got 31.4%. The bars show the European election shares, the small figures the gap to the 2025 federal election in the same area.
In the 2024 European election, CDU was the strongest party in Papenburg with 38.2%, +7.2 points compared with the 2025 federal election. Turnout was 61.2% (2025 federal election: 81.0%).
Why do the European and federal elections differ?
The European election has no electoral threshold, so small parties such as Volt, Die PARTEI or the animal-welfare party win more votes. Turnout is much lower, and the political mood shifted between June 2024 and February 2025. The single European-election vote is compared with the second vote of the federal election in the same area; parties that count as Others in 2025 get no difference.
Where do these figures come from?
Official final result of the 2024 European election from the Federal Returning Officer's polling-district statistics, aggregated to the municipality. Postal votes counted by a joint administration are not included here.
| Party | Votes 2024 | European election 2024 | Federal election 2025 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 6,206 | 38.2% | 31.0% | +7.2 |
| SPD | 2,692 | 16.6% | 21.8% | -5.2 |
| AfD | 2,517 | 15.5% | 20.0% | -4.5 |
| Grüne | 1,323 | 8.1% | 8.0% | +0.1 |
| BSW | 916 | 5.6% | 3.9% | +1.7 |
| FDP | 752 | 4.6% | 4.3% | +0.3 |
| Linke | 317 | 2.0% | 7.9% | -5.9 |
| Die PARTEI | 260 | 1.6% | – | – |
| Volt | 254 | 1.6% | 0.4% | +1.2 |
| Tierschutzpartei | 196 | 1.2% | – | – |
| Freie Wähler | 110 | 0.7% | 0.7% | ±0 |
| ÖDP | 37 | 0.2% | – | – |
| Others | 662 | 4.1% | – | – |
Die PARTEI, Tierschutzpartei, ÖDP: counted as Others in the 2025 federal election, so no difference is shown.
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2024 European election, results by polling district (file), final result, retrieved 28 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Municipal results are the sum of a municipality's polling districts including assigned postal-vote districts; Hamburg's boroughs are derived from the polling-district number. Comparison values: second votes of the 2025 federal election in the same area. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Papenburg in figures
Key facts about the place from official statistics and Wikidata, so the election result can be put in context. The figures describe, they do not explain.
- Population
- 36,972 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Area
- 118.4 km²
- Population density
- 312 inhabitants per km²
- Settlement type
- intermediate density (town, suburb)
- Under 19
- 18.5%
- 67 and older
- 16.9%
- Foreign nationals (2022 census)
- 17.4%
- Employees subject to social insurance (place of work)
- 23,248 (as of 2025-06-30)
- Commuter balance
- +6,896 (more in-commuters than out-commuters)
- Unemployment rate
- 4.7% (as of 2026-09)
- Johann Bunte
- 1,597 employees
- Postcode
- 26871
- Elevation
- 6 m
- First mention or foundation
- 1631
- Twin towns
- 1
- Website
- www.papenburg.de
- Wikipedia
- Papenburg (Wikipedia)
Papenburg has 36,972 inhabitants and is intermediate density (town, suburb). The largest company headquartered in Papenburg is Johann Bunte with 1,597 employees. The unemployment rate is 4.7%.
Where do the profile figures come from?
Population, area and coordinates from the Federal Statistical Office's municipality register, employees, sectors and unemployment from the Federal Employment Agency, age structure from the 2022 census, coat of arms, website and companies from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. All sources are openly licensed and linked below the list.
Does the profile explain the election result?
No. It describes the place so readers can put figures in context. Whether sector, age or density relate to voting can only be tested across many places, not from a single result.
Sources: Wikidata (CC0 1.0) · Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), Gemeindeverzeichnis GV-ISys (Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – Version 2.0) · Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (© Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Nutzung mit Quellenangabe) · Zensus 2022, Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder, Regionaltabelle Demografie (Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – Version 2.0)
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.
Papenburg: if the election were held today
The current national polling average (as of 7 Nov 2026) applied to the municipality's 2025 second-vote result. A rough estimate without local factors.
AfD would be the strongest party with 27.8%; in 2025 CDU led.
Method: proportional swing of the national polling average, see constituency nowcast.