Osnabrück, Stadt: results of the 2026 local elections and the 2025 federal election
In the federal election on 23 February 2025, SPD led in Osnabrück with 23.8% of the second votes, followed by CDU with 22.6%. Below, the results of all 1 municipalities.
- Lord Mayor
- Katharina Pötter (CDU), since 2021 · Wikidata
- Population
- 166,257 · 1,388 per km²
- Largest sector
- Health and social work 18%
- Turnout
- 82.7% · Lower Saxony 83.4% · Germany 82.5%
- Voters
- 99,407 of 120,138 eligible voters
- Compared with Lower Saxony
- SPD +0.8 · CDU −5.5 · Grüne +7.2 · Linke +5.6
- SPD range across municipalities
- 23.8% to 23.8%
2026 local elections in Osnabrück, Stadt
On 13 September 2026, the city council was newly elected, along with the lord mayor. Official final result, as of 25.09.2026 14:42. All districts: Lower Saxony local elections 2026.
- Largest group: city council
- GRÜNE 24.7% · 12 of 50 seats
- Lord mayor, run-off
- Katharina Pötter (CDU), 57.0%
- Turnout
- 61.8%
Turnout 61.8% · 128,031 eligible voters · 50 seats · Official final result · 157 of 157 results
Source: Stadt Osnabrück, Local elections 2026, official results presentation (votemanager) (file), final result, retrieved 31 Oct 2026, official work, § 5 UrhG. Electoral authority status: 25.09.2026 14:42. Electoral authority's result portal: https://votemanager.kdo.de/20260913/03404000/praesentation/ Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Lord mayor election
Decided in the run-off on 27 September 2026: Katharina Pötter (CDU) with 57.0%.
Run-off 27 September 2026
Turnout 45.0% · 128,011 eligible voters · Official final result · 157 of 157 results
First round 13 September 2026
Turnout 61.9% · 128,031 eligible voters · Official final result · 157 of 157 results
Second votes in Osnabrück
Deviation from the state result in points.
Where do these figures come from?
Official results of the 2025 federal election from the Federal Returning Officer's district file, second votes per district.
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.
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2025 federal election, results by independent city and district (file), final result, retrieved 7 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
2024 European election in Osnabrück
In the European election on 9 June 2024, CDU came first in Osnabrück with 24.2% 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 Osnabrück with 24.2%, +1.6 points compared with the 2025 federal election. Turnout was 65.9% (2025 federal election: 82.7%).
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 (kerg2.csv), votes per district and independent city.
| Party | Votes 2024 | European election 2024 | Federal election 2025 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 19,521 | 24.2% | 22.6% | +1.6 |
| Grüne | 16,743 | 20.8% | 18.7% | +2.1 |
| SPD | 15,595 | 19.3% | 23.8% | -4.5 |
| AfD | 5,847 | 7.2% | 10.1% | -2.9 |
| FDP | 4,573 | 5.7% | 4.2% | +1.5 |
| Volt | 4,354 | 5.4% | 1.0% | +4.4 |
| BSW | 3,093 | 3.8% | 3.6% | +0.2 |
| Linke | 2,915 | 3.6% | 13.7% | -10.1 |
| Die PARTEI | 1,922 | 2.4% | – | – |
| Tierschutzpartei | 1,215 | 1.5% | – | – |
| Freie Wähler | 402 | 0.5% | 0.4% | +0.1 |
| ÖDP | 340 | 0.4% | – | – |
| Others | 4,140 | 5.1% | – | – |
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 state and district (kerg2.csv) (file), final result, retrieved 28 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Berlin East and Berlin West are aggregated from the boroughs as in the 2025 federal election. Comparison values: second votes of the 2025 federal election in the same area. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Osnabrück 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
- 166,257 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Area
- 119.8 km²
- Population density
- 1,388 inhabitants per km²
- Under 19
- 16.0%
- 67 and older
- 16.9%
- Foreign nationals (2022 census)
- 14.8%
- Employees subject to social insurance (place of work)
- 101,889 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Largest sectors
- Health and social work 18% · Trade and vehicle repair 13% · Manufacturing 10%
- Commuter balance
- +31,663 (more in-commuters than out-commuters)
- Unemployment rate
- 8.1% (as of 2026-09)
- Coppenrath & Wiese
- 2,600 employees (2017)
- Sparkasse Osnabrück
- 1,222 employees (2016-12-31)
- Auto Weller
- 575 employees (2019-10-31)
- Leysieffer
- 450 employees
- Vereinigte Volksbank Bramgau Osnabrück Wittlage
- 171 employees (2015-12-31)
- District seat
- Osnabrück
- Municipalities
- 1
- Elevation
- 63 m
- First mention or foundation
- 780
- Twin towns
- 11
- Website
- www.osnabrueck.de
- Wikipedia
- Osnabrück (Wikipedia)
Osnabrück has 166,257 inhabitants. The largest sector is Health and social work with 18% of employees. The largest company headquartered in Osnabrück is Coppenrath & Wiese with 2,600 employees. The unemployment rate is 8.1%.
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)
Strongest party by municipality in Osnabrück
Tap to open the municipality result. Labels appear on the largest municipalities by area; all values are in the table below.
Strongest party: SPD in 1 municipality of 1. Highest share: SPD with 23.8% in Osnabrück.
What does the map show?
Each municipality is coloured by the party with the highest second-vote share at the 2025 federal election; the intensity follows the share. Postal votes counted at the level of a joint administration are shown on the administration's page. Click a municipality for its full result.
All municipalities in Osnabrück
Sorted by number of voters. Range across the district: SPD 23.8 to 23.8%, CDU 22.6 to 22.6%, Grüne 18.7 to 18.7%, Linke 13.7 to 13.7%, AfD 10.1 to 10.1%, FDP 4.2 to 4.2%, BSW 3.6 to 3.6%.
| Municipality | Voters | Turnout | SPD | CDU | Grüne | Linke | AfD | FDP | BSW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osnabrück | 99,407 | 82.7% | 23.8 | 22.6 | 18.7 | 13.7 | 10.1 | 4.2 | 3.6 |
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. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.