Cottbus, Stadt: the 2025 federal election result
In the federal election on 23 February 2025, AfD led in Cottbus with 34.0% of the second votes, followed by CDU with 16.0%. Below, the results of all 1 municipalities.
- Lord Mayor
- Tobias Schick (SPD), since 2022 · Wikidata
- Population
- 95,140 · 574 per km²
- Largest sector
- Health and social work 23%
- Turnout
- 78.3% · Brandenburg 81.6% · Germany 82.5%
- Voters
- 58,282 of 74,421 eligible voters
- Compared with Brandenburg
- AfD +1.5 · CDU −2.1 · SPD +1.0 · Linke +0.4
- AfD range across municipalities
- 34.0% to 34.0%
Second votes in Cottbus
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 Cottbus
In the European election on 9 June 2024, AfD came first in Cottbus with 29.2% of the vote; in Brandenburg AfD got 27.5%. 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, AfD was the strongest party in Cottbus with 29.2%, −4.8 points compared with the 2025 federal election. Turnout was 63.6% (2025 federal election: 78.3%).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AfD | 13,976 | 29.2% | 34.0% | -4.8 |
| BSW | 7,491 | 15.6% | 11.1% | +4.5 |
| CDU | 7,485 | 15.6% | 16.0% | -0.4 |
| SPD | 6,964 | 14.5% | 15.8% | -1.3 |
| Linke | 2,194 | 4.6% | 11.1% | -6.5 |
| Grüne | 2,149 | 4.5% | 5.5% | -1.0 |
| FDP | 1,395 | 2.9% | 3.2% | -0.3 |
| Die PARTEI | 1,386 | 2.9% | – | – |
| Freie Wähler | 767 | 1.6% | 1.1% | +0.5 |
| Tierschutzpartei | 690 | 1.4% | – | – |
| Volt | 669 | 1.4% | 0.7% | +0.7 |
| ÖDP | 121 | 0.3% | – | – |
| Others | 2,612 | 5.5% | – | – |
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.
Cottbus 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
- 95,140 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Area
- 165.6 km²
- Population density
- 574 inhabitants per km²
- Under 19
- 16.2%
- 67 and older
- 24.2%
- Foreign nationals (2022 census)
- 9.3%
- Employees subject to social insurance (place of work)
- 49,524 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Largest sectors
- Health and social work 23% · Öffentliche Verwaltung und Sozialversicherung 13% · Business services 11%
- Commuter balance
- +10,708 (more in-commuters than out-commuters)
- Unemployment rate
- 7.4% (as of 2026-09)
- VR Bank Lausitz
- 131 employees (2016-12-31)
- District seat
- Cottbus/Chóśebuz
- Municipalities
- 1
- Elevation
- 76 m
- Twin towns
- 10
- Website
- www.cottbus.de
- Wikipedia
- Cottbus (Wikipedia)
Cottbus has 95,140 inhabitants. The largest sector is Health and social work with 23% of employees. The largest company headquartered in Cottbus is VR Bank Lausitz with 131 employees. The unemployment rate is 7.4%.
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 Cottbus
Tap to open the municipality result. Labels appear on the largest municipalities by area; all values are in the table below.
Strongest party: AfD in 1 municipality of 1. Highest share: AfD with 34.0% in Cottbus/Chóśebuz.
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 Cottbus
Sorted by number of voters. Range across the district: AfD 34 to 34%, CDU 16 to 16%, SPD 15.8 to 15.8%, Linke 11.1 to 11.1%, BSW 11.1 to 11.1%, Grüne 5.5 to 5.5%, FDP 3.2 to 3.2%.
| Municipality | Voters | Turnout | AfD | CDU | SPD | Linke | BSW | Grüne | FDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cottbus/Chóśebuz | 58,282 | 78.3% | 34.0 | 16.0 | 15.8 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 5.5 | 3.2 |
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.