Website dispute: Mayor candidate Bahrmann steals the domain from Renner!

Website dispute: Mayor candidate Bahrmann steals the domain from Renner!

There's a lot of excitement in Meißen: the candidates for the mayoral election on September 7, 2025 are causing a lot of excitement. Markus Renner, the non-party mayor and graduate in administration, is at the center of the action. He was supported by various city councilors who campaigned for him across all factions. This is not happening without reason, because they want to avoid “Pirnaian conditions” after the AfD triumphed there in 2023 with Tim Lochner. It should also be mentioned at this point that the AfD is also in the running with René Jurisch, a non-party building contractor and former NPD member.

After working in Meißen since 2012, Renner began his career as head of the public order office before taking the reins as mayor since 2016. The support of city councilors from various political camps, including the CDU, the Meißen Independent List, the Citizens for Meißen, the SPD and the Left Party, shows that his support is strong. Even if FDP candidate Martin Bahrmann is critical of this strategy and believes that supporting Renner is not the right way out of fear of the AfD, the mood for Renner remains high. Bahrmann, who has been a city councilor since 2009 and a district councilor since 2014, wants to try his luck with his own, neutral ideas.

A controversial election game

A juicy detail came to light: Martin Bahrmann redirected Renner's website, www.markus-renner.de, so that it points to his own campaign page, www.meissen2025.de. This causes Renner to be dissatisfied because he sees this as unethical and an attempt to exploit the popularity of others for his own election campaign. Bahrmann secured the domain and set up forwarding as part of his election campaign strategy. However, he is willing to return the domain “under certain circumstances”. Renner plans to talk to Bahrmann again, but has little interest in a legal dispute. This discussion about a fair election campaign is not made any easier by the lack of a meeting between the three mayoral candidates, including René Jurisch.

The Renner website in question will go online on Friday at www.renner-meissen.de. In doing so, he wants to ensure that his own voice is heard in the election campaign. As the election campaign continues to gain momentum, it remains to be seen how the situation surrounding the domains will develop and whether the candidates' election strategy can be fruitful. The race for mayor promises to be exciting and voters face the challenge of finding their way in the thick of political disputes.

For some, the political landscape in Meissen may resemble a battleground where candidates vie for voters' favor. While Renner can rely on his broad support, the question remains whether Bahrmann can present a successful concept based on his critical stance towards Renner and the fear of the AfD. One thing is certain: the coming months leading up to the election will be crucial, and the people of Meissen will be watching closely how their electors act. The mayoral election could be of great importance not only for the city, but also for the political situation in Saxony.

For further information about the election, the candidates' current websites are available: Sächsische.de and Tagesschau.de.