Please sign in to post.

September Federal Elections

My wife and I will be taking a 5 week to Europe in September/October of this year. The beginning and ending itinerary is booked but we are just getting ready to plan the middle 10 days. What is set is that we will be leaving Venice on September 17th and need to arrive in London on September 27th. Between those dates we want to explore Germany by train and fly out of Berlin on the 27th.

That was our plan until I realized that the German Federal Elections would be held on September 24th. Maybe it's too early to guess, but I'd like any insight from those that have had experience in Germany as to whether disruptions (protests, strikes, rallies, etc.) may make travel in Germany leading up to or after the elections more difficult.

Being ignorant of the German political process am I worried about nothing or are there things I need to be aware of in this regard?

Posted by
12040 posts

When I lived in Germany, I don't recall any particular disruption of everyday life during elections. Except for the campaign posters and the very limited TV spots, you may not even notice any difference.

Posted by
2480 posts

disruptions (protests, strikes, rallies, etc.)

Sorry, no chances for entertainment - you would have to go to Greece for things like that to experience. German election campaigns are conducted largely in the TV, and on the polling day everybody goes to the polling station quickly and hurries home for lunch. By 6pm we watch the first projections on tv, looking if Mutti can do it again, and then we switch to the sports news. German elections are that boring. ;)

Posted by
1 posts

Don't worry. Election day in Germany is like any other regular Sunday.

Posted by
9223 posts

No big deal. It is civilized here. No protests, no tv ads, no parties, no debates, no parades. You will never know an election is happening.