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It is the month of August 1995. The legislative period in the Bavarian municipalities is gradually coming to an end. This is also the case in Wiedergeltingen, a community with around 1,200 inhabitants in the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia.


The next local elections on March 10, 1996 are getting closer and closer.


In recent years, many citizens' dissatisfaction with the municipal leader, Mayor Hermann Singer, has grown more and more.


On this August evening, three community citizens met in a small circle to introduce an alternative to the existing community policy. Under the heading “For more openness and proximity to the citizens” the aim was to form a counterpart to the existing “government” in the upcoming local elections and to replace it – if possible – with its own mayoral candidate.


That was the birth of the then voting group “Active Wiedergeltingen Citizens (AWB)”, today’s Wiedergeltingen Citizens’ Association eV.


After further meetings, the circle, which originally consisted of three citizens, grew larger and larger, certainly also due to the growing dissatisfaction with the existing political situation in recent years.

The civil engineer Max Schreiber was won as the future mayoral candidate. A local council list for the 12 local council seats to be filled was also filled with almost no problem and 24 candidates were listed.


It was decided that the upcoming election campaign would be tough but fair. Unfortunately, this approach was not always practiced by the other side, the list association of the CSU faction and Free Voters.


Among other things, personal data, such as that of the denomination, was used to specifically create sentiment against the AWB and its mayoral candidate.


The AWB wanted to promote cooperation between the community and citizens by being more close to the citizens, a term that was a foreign word to many at the time. New residents and locals, young and old, should find a stronger community.


It was decided that the upcoming election campaign would be tough but fair. Unfortunately, this approach was not always practiced by the other side, the list association of the CSU faction and Free Voters.


Among other things, personal data, such as that of the denomination, was used to specifically create sentiment against the AWB and its mayoral candidate.


The AWB wanted to promote cooperation between the community and citizens by being more close to the citizens, a term that was a foreign word to many at the time. New residents and locals, young and old, should find a stronger community.


"I think that Wiedergeltingen needs a mayor who will create a citizen-friendly climate through more open municipal politics. My goal is not just to manage Wiedergeltingen, but to shape the future of the community with an active local council and all citizens.”

Mayoral candidate Max Schreiber


Further goals of the AWB were:


    New citizen-friendly cemetery statutes Cooperation with neighboring communities Establishment of a fire station for the fire engine of the voluntary fire department Realization of the new water supply Advocacy for the creation of a local transport connection in the Amberg, Buchloe, Türkheim and surrounding areas Improvements in the area of road traffic e.g. speed-reducing measures at the entrances to town and traffic calming in the residential areas Active cooperation with parent representatives by kindergarten and school, improving the use of the multi-purpose hall; Opening for activities and events of the local clubs and the amateur play group. Establishing a public children's playground. Promoting youth work in our community. Carrying out regular citizens' meetings/citizen discussions. Comprehensive and factual citizen information from community and club life in the form of regular community letters. Improving and promoting cooperation between the community and its citizens as well as the local clubs



Press release from the Mindelheimer Zeitung from November 21, 1995


Design together, not just manage


So a program was designed with the aforementioned goals and went public. The response from the public was extremely great and on November 17, 1995, the nomination meeting was attended by a well-filled multi-purpose hall.


With the above final result of the local elections, the main goal of replacing Mayor Singer from office was not achieved, but with a result of around 40%, so to speak from a standing start with a good six months of preparation time, that was a nice success overall .


The level of voter turnout at around 87% was also very significant. According to election researchers, an extremely high voter turnout almost always indicates a high degree of dissatisfaction with the existing conditions.

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