Thuringia BSW party gains members while SPD loses members in 2026

The Thuringian branch of the BSW reported a volatile membership picture. About 200 members left the party in the first half of 2026, citing long processing times for applications and personal life changes. After a backlog of pending applications was cleared, the party’s membership rose sharply, reaching roughly 570 members this month, up from around 240 a few weeks earlier and nearly 800 at its peak.

At the same time, the state SPD saw a modest decline. The party now counts about 3,200 members in Thuringia and has been losing roughly ten members per year for several years, according to the SPD’s state manager Markus Giebe.