Ballot no. 24
BSW
Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht - Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit
Standing statewide
About the party
The BSW was founded in early 2024, chiefly by Sahra Wagenknecht, former co-leader of Die Linke’s parliamentary group, and other members who had left that party. It describes itself as left on economic and distribution questions while often taking restrictive positions on socio-cultural issues such as immigration and identity politics, and it is critical of recent federal governments’ Ukraine and Russia policy. It won 6.2% in the 2024 European election, narrowly missed the 5% threshold in 2025, and founded its Berlin branch in July 2024.
A neutral three-sentence summary, in the same format for every party, of the profile published by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb). Read the full profile: bpb profile for Berlin 2026 ↗
Lead candidate(s)
Source: Landesliste position 1, Amtsblatt für Berlin Nr. 36, 27 Aug 2026.
Result in 2023
Did not stand in 2023
Did not exist in 2023; founded January 2024.
Source: Landeswahlleiterin Berlin, 12 Feb 2023 · Data as of 2026-09-11
On the 2026 ballot
77 direct candidates · 0 on district lists · 19 on the state list · 114 on BVV lists
Positions by theme
The same six themes and the same template as on the Berlin-agenda page: the party’s own chapter title, a neutral summary of that chapter, and a link into the original.
Housing & rent
All parties on this theme →Wohnen in Berlin ↗p. 6–9
Housing is public provision and "must not be left to the market alone": implement the 2021 socialisation referendum, make a new attempt at a Mietendeckel via the Bundesrat, and stop selling state land — public plots only on 99-year leasehold, mainly to city companies and cooperatives. A binding target of at least 6,000 social flats a year with permanent price and occupancy ties, a wider pre-emption right with price caps, action against furnished lets, holiday flats, demolitions and speculative vacancy (trustee letting, socialisation as last resort), and a residency-length criterion in allocating subsidised flats.
Transport & mobility
All parties on this theme →Verkehr ↗p. 48–51
"Transport policy must not divide": no ideological contest between car, bike and public transport. Targeted expansion of U-, S-Bahn, tram and bus especially in the outer districts, two new cable-car lines (Treptow-Köpenick, Pankow Nord), on-demand buses, a joint Berlin–Brandenburg fare reform and a free pupil ticket for the whole region. The car "remains indispensable for many": supports finishing the A100 to Storkower Straße and the TVO, rejects Kiezblocks that push traffic onto main roads, needless removal of parking and any city toll on combustion cars; wants better construction-site coordination and freight shifted to water and rail.
Migration & participation
All parties on this theme →Für die Zuwanderungspolitische Wende ↗p. 34–37
"Fair and reasonable": rejects "unregulated immigration" as unfair to residents and migrants alike, backs the EU option of running asylum procedures in safe third countries outside the EU, supports border checks and turning people back at the border (except the particularly vulnerable), and wants asylum seekers distributed to neighbouring states with more capacity and, within Berlin, to districts by their infrastructure with a subsidy. For those with a right to stay: work permits tied to residence, faster recognition of qualifications, mandatory integration courses on rights and duties, even distribution of migrant children across kitas and schools, strict separation of state and religion in schools, and funding for neighbourhood and intercultural projects against xenophobia.
Innere Sicherheit ↗p. 38–41
"A state that protects without being overbearing": more officers and better pay (aligned to federal level), a hiring drive based on aptitude rather than quotas, extra staff into street duty, more patrols at hotspots, better street lighting, and de-escalation training with disciplinary consequences for disproportionate force. Video surveillance only at demonstrably crime-burdened places with parliamentary approval and live monitoring, 96-hour retention for BVG/DB cameras, spyware and AI only against organised crime and terrorism. Sees social security as the precondition for public security; wants the police "depoliticised", offenders in asylum procedures deported, electronic tags for stalkers (Spanish model), joint police–Ordnungsamt–customs checks and security zones around schools against drugs.
Climate & energy
All parties on this theme →Energie ↗p. 45–47
"Energy policy with a sense of proportion": blames sanctions on Russia for high energy prices, wants to end the boycott of Russian gas and oil, restart the usable Nord Stream string and abolish the CO₂ price; rejects "unrealistic targets" for the renewables switch and any "activism to hit target years". Coal plants closed only once secure alternatives exist, no dismantling of the gas grid, GASAG recommunalised, district heating expanded via municipal heat planning, carbon capture and hydrogen for industry supported, and no wind turbines in Berlin.
Education
All parties on this theme →Bildung ↗p. 14–17
A "turn in education": compulsory kita from age four at the latest, language diagnostics from age three and a binding pre-school phase. Back to basics — reading, writing and arithmetic first, dictation and mental arithmetic, grades kept, curricula slimmed with checkable goals. Distribution quotas at primary entry to mix pupils by German proficiency, a multi-year programme for schools in deprived areas, a broad offer of Gemeinschaftsschulen alongside Gymnasien, special-needs centres preserved, three two-week work placements, screen-free "detox classes" in primary school, smartphones locked away, a digital licence at the end of grade 10, and a civil clause for all universities.
Summaries written 2026-09-11 in neutral wording from the documents linked in each row. They are not the parties’ own texts.
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