Second ballot in Freiberg: Who will be the new mayor?

Second ballot in Freiberg: Who will be the new mayor?

On Sunday, September 28, 2025, a new mayor was elected in Freiberg, but the election brought an exciting twist. None of the candidates were able to achieve the necessary absolute majority of 50 percent, which is why a second round of voting is scheduled for October 26th, in which a simple majority is sufficient. Philipp Preißler from the Free Voters of Central Saxony is currently in the lead with 31.5 percent of the vote, followed by Christian Pudack, who is running for the “Freiberg for all” voter group and was able to achieve 21.4 percent.

But the competition doesn't sleep: Jens Uhlemann from the AfD has 20.5 percent, while Steve Ittershagen from the CDU is just behind him with 20.1 percent. The non-partisan Dr. Stefan Krinke ultimately had 6.5 percent of the votes, which put him in fifth place. Despite the uncertain situation, the voter turnout of 57.6 percent shows that citizens are interested in the political shape of their city. This is a pleasing increase compared to the last mayoral election in 2022, when turnout was 54.2 percent. Around 30,000 people were eligible to vote, and the election organization ran smoothly in 25 polling stations and 12 postal voting stations, as Blick reports.

The candidates at a glance

Steve Ittershagen, who currently heads the Montanregion Erzgebirge association, focuses on the city's economic development and wants to create new commercial areas to attract investment. “We have to bring urban society closer together,” he emphasizes. Jens Uhlemann, on the other hand, is relying on infrastructure projects such as the construction of a bypass road and the renovation of the outdoor swimming pool in order to steer the city through difficult times. Philipp Preißler sees Freiberg on the right path to becoming a family-friendly community and plans to complete the World Heritage Center in the city center in order to attract more tourists.

Dr. Stefan Krinke, who works as an engineer at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, has set himself the goal of obtaining funding for medical care and optimizing local public transport. It is particularly important to him to improve pediatric and general medical care and to create a bypass to reduce heavy goods traffic. The polling stations were open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on election day, and the results were counted quickly in town hall. The result was already clear at around 7:30 p.m. and Dr. Krinke was the only candidate to follow the counting on site, according to MDR.

Participation and perspectives

Voter turnout is considered an important feature of political participation and democracy. In Germany, an analysis by Statista shows that voter turnout in local and state elections often shows regional differences. In Freiberg, however, the interest of the population was reflected in the better participation figures, which is hopefully a good omen for the upcoming decision in the second round of voting.

The final decision on the new mayor and the future direction of the city of Freiberg will be made on October 26th. It remains to be seen what face the city will then see in administrative power.