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Volt supporters at a demonstration for Europe
Photo: Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images
»Cycling like in Copenhagen«, »Sustainable building like in Barcelona«, »Digital learning like in Helsinki«: at least in big cities, hardly any small party campaigns as intensively as Volt.
There are digital events, discussions, and the party headquarters sends out press releases almost every day.
In fact, the pan-European movement, ridiculed by the »Bild« newspaper a few years ago as an »EU hipster«, looks a bit like a big-city start-up.
Volt, on the other hand, sees himself as a grassroots movement.
With no less goal than to renew German politics, and then ideally the entire European Union.
Ambitious for a party that has only been around since 2017.
When Volt members talk about the founding of the party, they paint the picture of a dark time.
Donald Trump had just taken office as US President, the British Brexit vote sent shock waves through the European Union, and nationalism seemed to be on the rise.
These developments worried the then 29-year-old Damian Boeselager.
The grandfather from the resistance
Boeselager, whose full name is Damian Hieronymus Johannes Freiherr von Boeselager, comes from a Westphalian-Rhenish noble family.
His origins and family history fit seamlessly into the Volt story: Boeselager's grandfather Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager was part of the resistance group that planned the Stauffenberg assassination during the Nazi era.
Later on, the grandfather often told his life story, says Boeselager.
And the grandson admonishes: Don't watch when the nationalists become powerful, but do something about it.
So, says Damian Boeselager, he decided in 2017 to do something.
He teamed up with a French girlfriend and an Italian friend.
Together they found Volt: a pan-European movement against growing nationalist populism.
For Volt, this founding narrative is more than a good story, but a means of inner unity.
"Telling a story like this and using it for positive changes is an important part of movements," says Friederike Schier, 23, member of the Volt federal executive board.
"And our story is that the challenges of the 21st century can only be tackled together in Europe."
This great narrative of the movement is still supplemented by a story of its own, personal motivation.
A key moment for her was when she looked after a group of AfD visitors during an internship at the Foreign Office, says Schier.
"I found the mood there totally creepy." As a counterpoint, she was looking for a party with a European focus, which is why she ended up with Volt.
Well-oiled marketing machine
The party is skilfully marketing these stories during the election campaign: on posters, in its own campaign magazine, on the website, in conversations.
Marketing is going well, there are enough good stories: Compared to other parties, Volt is young, the members are on average 34 years old.
It scores particularly well with first-time voters.
And it is special in its structure.
Volt consists of a European umbrella organization and national branches, which are now registered as parties in 16 countries.
The European board and the national party associations work together to develop political guidelines.
There is also a European framework program that national election programs can use as a guide.
Volt's basic demand is the same everywhere: The party wants a kind of EU deluxe, with more powers for Brussels and a common constitution for all member states.
“It's not about all of us loving Europe so dearly.
But that we find the European Union so important that we want to reform it and make it better, «says Friederike Schier.
To this end, the European Parliament should be strengthened and the Commission should be supplemented with posts for economics and finance as well as foreign policy.
The traffic light in a party
But the member states have to participate.
That is why Volt is now running for the first time in the federal election, with the top duo Rebekka Müller and Hans-Günter Brünker.
Müller probably embodies what one expects from Volt: 32 years old, speaks three languages, previously worked in a management consultancy and a tourism company and is now committed to Volt's European idea.
Brünker is the counterpart: 54 years old, as an actor with appearances on "Lindenstrasse" and "Verbotene Liebe", not necessarily a guy with a classic politician résumé.
He used to be a member of the SPD, says Brünker.
He resigned because he lacked the "will for renewal" among the Social Democrats.
This is only available from Volt.
Apart from the European policy, the party otherwise resembles "a kind of traffic light" in its program, says Friederike Schier.
A bit of green, yellow and red politics rolled into one.
Volt wants the coal phase-out from 2030, an increase in the minimum wage to 13 euros and an equal number of electoral lists.
The party does not want a wealth or wealth tax, but a higher top tax rate.
She wants to build more to relieve the housing market, but is not in favor of a rent cap.
"The established parties lack pragmatism on many issues," says Schier.
Volt is less ideological.
Small successes and new challenges
The highlight of the short party history is the 2019 European elections. Volt won 0.7 percent of the votes in Germany and, thanks to the lack of a threshold clause, was able to move into the European Parliament with Damian Boeselager as a member of the European Parliament.
He is now part of the Greens there.
In Germany, Volt has so far been particularly successful at the municipal level.
According to its own statements, the party is now represented in 18 city and local councils, including Munich, Aachen and Wiesbaden.
In Frankfurt, she has also been the head of the department for digitization with 25-year-old Eileen O'Sullivan since September.
In the local elections in Lower Saxony on September 12th, Volt also got another 16 seats in local parliaments.
It will be much more difficult for the party in the Bundestag election.
At best, the subject of Europe plays a subordinate role in the election campaign, no matter how well it is told.
And unlike in 2019, the five percent hurdle is the big obstacle.
In the Netherlands, Volt made it to the national parliament with three members this year.
So far, there is nothing to suggest that Volt will succeed in doing something similar in Germany, especially since the party is competing with a particularly large number of small parties in the federal election this year.
In the case of elections at the state level, it has so far been enough for results of a maximum of 1.3 percent.
One looks in vain for exaggerated optimism in the party. “We are aware that entering the Bundestag would be a real sensation. Above all, my hope is that the impulses we provide will be more and more frequently taken up in parliament, «says Friederike Schier. And at least one of only twelve parties in each federal state has drawn up a state list. "Even the Greens are a bit ahead of us, they couldn't do it in Saarland."
Even if Volt does not make it into the Bundestag, the party could benefit from the election. Anyone who gets at least 0.5 percent of the second vote receives money from state party funding. In 2020, Volt was entitled to over 377,000 euros due to the results of the European elections and the Hamburg state election. A good result in the federal election would allow the amount to grow further.
Because the party could not finance its election campaign through donations alone.
Financial donations make up about a third of the budget, and the party voluntarily publishes donations of 3000 euros or more on its website.
The supporters include two aristocratic entrepreneurs, the founder of a large insurance start-up and the heir of one of the largest German shipping companies.
A bit of political entrepreneurship is also part of the Volt story.