Pirate Party Germany Piratenpartei Deutschland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Lilia Kayra Kuyumcu (de)[1] |
| Founded | 10 September 2006; 19 years ago (2006-09-10) |
| Headquarters | Berlin |
| Youth wing | Young Pirates |
| Membership(16 November 2025) |  4,264[2] |
| Ideology | Pirate politics E-democracy Direct democracy Social liberalism[3] Anti-corruption[4] |
| European affiliation | European Pirate Party |
| European Parliament group | Greens/EFA |
| International affiliation | Pirate Parties International |
| Colours | Orange Black White |
| Bundestag | 0 / 630 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 96 |
| State Parliaments | 0 / 1,821 |
| Website | |
| piratenpartei.de | |
ThePirate Party Germany (German:Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known asPirates (German:Piraten), is apolitical party in Germany founded in September 2006 atc-base. It states general agreement with the SwedishPiratpartiet[5][6] as a party of theinformation society; it is part of the international movement of pirate parties and a member of thePirate Parties International.
In 2011 and 2012, fuelled by overlapping support from the internationalOccupy Movement, the party succeeded in attaining a high enough vote share to enter fourstate parliaments (Berlin,North Rhine-Westphalia,Saarland andSchleswig-Holstein)[7] and theEuropean Parliament. However, their popularity rapidly declined thereafter and by 2017 they had no representation in any of the German state parliaments. TheirEuropean Parliament members,Felix Reda (2014-2019) and his successor,Patrick Breyer (2019-2024), were in theEuropean Pirate Party (founded 21 March 2014[8]), which, in turn, is in theGreens–European Free Alliance group. Together withMarcel Kolaja,Markéta Gregorová andMikuláš Peksa from theCzech Pirate Party, Breyer built up the European Pirate Party's team for theEuropean Parliament inBrussels.
According to political theorist Oskar Niedermayer,[9] the party sees itself as part of an international movement to shape with their term of "digital revolution" which is a circumscription for the transition intoinformation society. With their focus on freedom in the net and their fight against government regulations of this sphere, they caught the attention especially of the younger generation. Even if the network policy is the core identity of the party, it is now more than just an advocacy party of "digital natives" and characterises itself as social-liberal-progressive.[9]
Former federal chairmanSebastian Nerz sees the party as asocial-liberal party of fundamental rights which, among other things, wants to advocate forpolitical transparency.[10]
The party supports the preservation of currentcivil rights intelephony and on the Internet; in particular, it opposes the Europeandata retention policies.
The party favors the civil right toinformation privacy and reforms ofcopyright, education,genetic patents anddrug policy.
In particular, it promotes an enhancedtransparency of government by implementingopen source governance and providing forAPIs to allow for electronic inspection and monitoring of government operations by the citizen.[11]
The Pirate Party also supports anunconditional basic income for citizens[12][13] anddirect democracy viae-democracy.[14][15]
The party was founded on 10 September 2006 by students and young people inspired by the recently foundedSwedish Pirate Party.[16][17][18]
In June 2009,Bundestag memberJörg Tauss left theSPD and joined the Pirate Party[19] after theZugangserschwerungsgesetz was passed, but left the Pirate Party in 2010 when he was convicted for possession ofchild pornography.[20] In late August 2009,Herbert Rusche, one of the founding members of theGerman Green Party and, in the 1980s, the first openly gay member of parliament in Germany, joined the Pirate Party.[21]
The party first began to contest elections in 2009; firstly in the2009 European Parliament election in Germany and then the2009 German federal election. Although the party received no seats in either election, the pirates performed well in the Federal election, obtaining 1.95% of the vote. This was the best showing of any party without any national representation. Budding support for the party was galvanised by activism against online censorship laws introduced in Germany that year.[22][23] The result impressed journalists, who began speculating that the Pirates could have the same trajectory asthe Green Party, beginning as a single-issue protest party before transforming into a deeper organisation.[24][25]
The party's first major electoral success came at the2011 Berlin state election, when the party entered a state parliament for the first time after theBerlin party chapter received 8.9 per cent of the votes for thestate parliament of Berlin and all 15 of its candidates were elected.[26] The results shocked even the party itself and a wave of euphoria washed over the membership.[25] The election in Berlin, held in September, had coincided with the start of the internationalOccupy Movement, and many journalists attributed the same sentiment fueling the Occupy Movement as also providing support for Pirate Parties internationally.[27][28][29]
In the Spring of 2012, the Pirates won seats in three other German federal states and by August 2012 the party had around 35,000 members.[30] National polling showed surging support for the party[31] with theIrish Times referring to the Pirates as "the third most popular party in Germany" following a poll byStern magazine which placed the party on 13% national support.[32]
This would functionally be the high watermark for the party, which subsequently went into a steady decline[33][34] and was never able to recover from it.
In October 2012,Der Spiegel published an article titled"Voters Growing Disillusioned with Germany's Pirate Party". The article noted the now declining support for the party and outlined several probable reasons for this. Amongst flaws in the partyDer Spiegel suggested were:
A 2016 article entitled"The Rise and Fall of the Pirate Party" inThe New Republic echoed the above sentiments but also quoted the thoughts of one party activist, who stated "Our biggest problem was that we let everyone in who wanted to join, and most of them were apolitical. They weren’t interested in politics. I couldn’t take it anymore. Every political opinion was tolerated. I’d go to a Party convention and there would be, like,Holocaust deniers there."[34]
The party floundered at the2013 Lower Saxony state election in January as well as the2013 Bavarian state election in September, each time only securing 2% of the vote, not enough to break Germany's 5% threshold for political parties to gain seats. These results foreshadowed the party's poor performance at the2013 German federal election.Der Spiegel opined in a September 2013 article that the Pirate Pirate could have thrived in the 2013 Federal election if it was more organised; a major issue during the campaign was the topic of spying, following revelations over the summer that the AmericanNational Security Agency was conducting large scale spying operations in Germany and France.[33]
The party was unable to right the ship by the time of the2016 Berlin state election; the party secured only a 1.7% share of the vote and lost all 15 of its seats in what had previously been its stronghold. The sense of terminal decline was compounded days after the result whenGerwald Claus-Brunner, an assembly member who had just lost his seat, murdered a former intern before killing himself.[36]
Following the Berlin wipeout, many declared the Pirate Party a dead political project; former party leaderMartin Delius [de] and former party ChairmanChristopher Lauer [de] left the party and publicly expressed that they did not wish to see it continue.[34]
In late 2018, just over two years after the Claus-Brunner scandal, the party was rocked by a sexual harassment scandal, withGilles Bordelais, one of its candidates for the European elections, at its centre. Bordelais was an employee of the party's MEPFelix Reda and was placed under investigation for sexual harassment of European Parliament employees. Despite the fact that Reda had provided timely notification to the party's Board, the Board failed to act on the information provided, keeping him on the ballot.[37] This prompted Reda to resign from the party and politics in general, announcing his decision on 27 March 2019, in an online video protesting the party's inaction on the matter.[38] Following Reda's resignation and withdrawal, the party continued its electoral decline at the local, state, federal, and European level.
The2025 German federal election marked its terminal decline, as it received only 0.03% of the national vote (13,800 total voters),[39] losing 91.86% of the votes it attracted in the2021 federal election.[40]
On 27 September 2009, the Pirates received 1.95% (845,870 votes) in the2009 German federal election, thus not securing any seats in the Bundestag. However, this was still the best result among parties that did not meet the 5% threshold. Among first-time male voters, the party received 13%.[41]
On account of the election results in 2009, the party met the conditions for receivingpublic allowances, a status it lost in 2024. For 2009, it received €31,504.68 (the same amount as it received from private contributions) which was exclusively due to the Pirates state associations Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. The calculation was made based on the total receipts of the party in 2008. The possible upper limit of the public allowance matching for the party is a rate of €840,554.51.[42]
It received 229,117 votes in the2009 European Parliament election, which was 0.9%, but not enough for a seat.[43]
On 30 August 2009, the Pirates received 1.9% in the2009 Saxony state election. On the same day, the party also received one seat in each council in the local elections ofMünster andAachen, although candidates of the party ran for office only in some constituencies of both cities.[44]
Support for The Pirates differs somewhat between States. The party received 1.8% in the2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election and 1.5% in the2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election (though without securing seats),[45][46] but only 0.5% in the2009 Hesse state election and did not participate in the2009 Brandenburg andSaarland state elections.
The party received 2.1% in the2011 Hamburg state elections, though it was not yet enough to gain seats in the State parliament. In the2011 Baden-Württemberg state election the Pirate Party was able to repeat this result. In the2011 Saxony-Anhalt state election they received 1.4% or 13,828 votes; in the2011 Rhineland-Palatinate state election they achieved 1.6% of the votes.
In the2011 Berlin state election, with 8.9% of the votes[47] thePirate Party of Berlin managed for the first time to overcome the 5% threshold and to win seats (numbering 15 out of 141 seats in theAbgeordnetenhaus) in a German state parliament.[48] This was quite a surprise for them, since they only had 15 candidates on the ballot. In response to their election, however,Mayor Klaus Wowereit criticized their lack of diversity, most notably the lack of women in the party.[49]
In March 2012, the Pirates received 7.4% of the vote[50] and thus won four seats[51] in theLandtag of Saarland.
In May 2012, they won 8.2% ofthe vote in Schleswig-Holstein, which was sufficient to enter the state parliament, gaining six seats, being led byTorge Schmidt from 2013 until 2017.[52] Also in May 2012, they won 7.8% ofthe vote in North Rhine-Westphalia, gaining 20 seats.
After those successful state elections, the party was able to score up to 13% in nationwide polls.[53] However, after a string of scandals[54][34] and internal disputes which were handled unprofessionally and picked up by the media, the party lost the trust of voters and entered a steady decline in polls,[33] from which it never recovered.
As a result, in theLower Saxony state election in January 2013, the Pirate Party was only able to gain about 2.1% of the votes, missing the 5% threshold needed to gain actual seats in the state parliament. Six months later during theBavaria state election of 2013 the Pirates fared similarly, receiving again only 2% of the votes. At the2013 German federal elections the following weekend, the party suffered another major defeat where it was again only able to achieve 2.2% of the votes, leading to the resignation of party leaderBernd Schlömer [de].[55]
In the2014 European parliament elections, the Pirate Party received 1.45% of the national vote (424,510 votes in total) and returned a singleMember of the European Parliament.[56] The elected MEP,Felix Reda, joined theGreens–European Free Alliance as an independent.[57]
The Berlin state election on September witnessed the collapse of support for the Pirate Party in their erstwhile stronghold of Berlin. Their previous vote of 8.9% achieved in 2011 fell to 1.7% and the Pirate Party lost all representation in the Berlin State assembly. The poor result was compounded by the murder-suicide of former Pirate Party assembly memberGerwald Claus-Brunner.[36]
Together with the satirical partyDie PARTEI the Pirate Party nominatedEngelbert Sonneborn [de] as candidate for theGerman presidential election in February 2017.[58]
The Pirate Party continued to decline in 2017, dropping out from state parliaments. In theSaarland state election in March 2017, the Pirate Party received only 0.7% of the voter share and therefore lost all its seats in theLandtag of the Saarland.[59] With theNorth Rhine-Westphalia state election in which it lost every seat, the Pirate Party is no longer represented in any state parliament.
In the2019 European Parliament election, the Pirate Party received a 0.65% share of the national vote (243,302 total votes) and retained their MEP seat, with their lead candidatePatrick Breyer being elected.[60]
In the2021 federal election, the Pirate Party received 0.37% of the national vote (169,587 votes in total).[61]
In the2024 European Parliament election, the Pirate Party lost all representation in the European Parliament, receiving 0.47% of the national vote (186,683 votes in total).[62] Due to these results, it lost its eligibility for state funding, as per Section 18 of German Law on Political Parties (Parteiengesetz).[63]
In the2025 federal election, the Pirate Party collapsed completely, receiving only 0.03% of the national vote (13,800 votes in total). This marks a 91.86% loss of voters compared to the2021 federal election.[64]
In the2025 North Rhine-Westphalia local elections, after the devastating results of the 2025 federal election, the decline of the Pirate Party continued on the local level. It received 0.08% of the vote (6,330 votes in total), down from the 0.3% (24,812 votes in total) it received in the 2020 elections. This marks a loss of 18,482 votes or approximately 73.3% of electoral support. As a result, the party secured only three seats in district councils, losing seven of the ten seats it had secured in 2020,[65] confirming its inability to mitigate or reverse its electoral and political decline.
Following a series of electoral setbacks, including the party's failure to secure any seats in the2025 German federal election (where it received 0.03% of the vote), the Pirate Party initiated internal reforms aimed at revitalization.[66] These efforts were described by party leadership as a "generational shift" and a refocus on core principles of digital rights and participatory democracy, beginning in 2023 amid declining membership (from approximately 6,000 in early 2023 to 4,270 by November 2025).[67]
In 2023, 16-year-old activist Lilia Kayra Kuyumcu (born 2007) joined the party and was appointed social media coordinator and treasurer in the Schleswig-Holstein state branch.[68] Kuyumcu, a German-Turkish politician, advocated for social inclusion, youth education, and data protection. During this period, the party updated several policy positions, including calls for mandatory open-source code in public sector AI systems to reduce algorithmic bias and for stronger data privacy safeguards for ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ individuals in automated decision-making processes.[69][70]
By 2024, Kuyumcu had been elected as a deputy member of the federal board, participating in discussions on e-democracy and anti-corruption measures. The party phased out theLiquidFeedback platform, which had been used for liquid democracy since 2009 but faced technical and engagement challenges.[71] It was replaced with hybrid onlineParteitage (party congresses) and the BEO (Beschlussentwurfs- und Entwurfssystem Online), an open-source system for drafting and voting on proposals.[72] Fully implemented by 2025, BEO included real-time collaboration, AI-assisted moderation, and blockchain-verified voting.[73] These tools facilitated policy updates, including a proposed "digital UBI" pilot using blockchain, opposition to the EU's Chat Control regulation, and revisions to energy policy.[74][75] In January 2025, an online federal congress adopted a revised energy chapter prioritizing photovoltaics and battery storage while emphasizing resilience and geopolitical considerations.[76] State branches applied BEO to local contexts: In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a September 2025 post critiqued autocratic hybrid threats and called for stronger democratic resilience, echoing federal foreign policy goals.[77] Similarly, Bavaria's Landesparteitag 2025.1 in October adopted position papers on encryption rights and opposition to surveillance software like Palantir, reinforcing the party's digital freedom agenda.[78] This included a pragmatic approach to "technology openness," allowing discussions on nuclear power at the European level as part of energy security, without a national ban.[79]
Using the online Party Congress, the party adopted a revised foreign policy position on 21 July 2025, emphasizing a "wehrhaft, resilient, europäisch" approach: support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, support to Israel's campaign in Gaza, solidarity with the Iranian opposition, and enhanced EU defense cooperation without general conscription.[80][81] In October 2025, the federal congress adopted a revised basic program on foreign and security policy, enshrining the principle: "Europapolitik ist Innenpolitik. Die gemeinsame europäische Sicherheit, Freiheit und demokratische Prinzipien müssen in allen außenpolitischen Entscheidungen und sie beeinflussenden Politikfeldern Vorrang haben."[82] The program called for strategic responses to digital threats, including cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, disinformation, and sabotage, advocating enhanced European cybersecurity cooperation and resilience of civilian systems.[83] It rejected the production, proliferation, and use of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, demanding full implementation of treaties like the CWC and BTWC, while requiring European-level deterrence and defense preparations until complete disarmament.[84]
At the federal congress (Bundesparteitag) held 27–28 September 2025 in Dudweiler, Saarbrücken—with many delegates participating online—the party elected its 19th federal board.[85] Kuyumcu, aged 18, was elected federal chair, becoming the youngest leader of a German federal party.[86][87] The seven-member board, including deputy chair Dennis Klüver, treasurer Jutta Dietrich, and board members Babak Tubis, Wolf Vincent Lübcke, Nick Neumann, and Karsten Wehner, stated its intent to address past internal issues and implement recent policy changes, including the foreign policy realignment.[88] The party described the election as a signal of renewal and generational change.[89]
In October 2025, Kuyumcu publicly opposed the use of Palantir's Gotham software by Baden-Württemberg police, calling it a risk to civil liberties.[90][91] The board continued to use BEO for policy development, including proposals on climate data transparency and public procurement oversight, as well as criticism of the 2025 grid development plan for inadequate support of renewable integration.[92][93] Analysts noted ongoing challenges, including limited funding and competition from larger parties, with the Pirates remaining below the 0.5% electoral threshold.[94]
As of November 2025, the reforms had not resulted in significant electoral gains, though they indicated a shift toward issue-specific advocacy rather than broad parliamentary representation.[95]
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Jens Seipenbusch (de) | 847,870 | 1.95 (#7) | 0 / 622 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2013 | Bernd Schlömer (de) | 959,177 | 2.19 (#9) | 0 / 631 |  0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2017 | Patrick Schiffer (de) | 173,476 | 0.37 (#12) | 0 / 709 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2021 | Sebastian Alscher (de) | 169,587 | 0.37 (#12) | 0 / 709 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| 2025 | Borys Sobieski (de) | 13,800 | 0.03 (#21) | 0 / 630 | 0 | Extra-parliamentary |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Andreas Popp | 229,464 | 0.87 (#11) | 0 / 99 | New | – |
| 2014 | Felix Reda | 425,044 | 1.45 (#9) | 1 / 96 |  1 | Greens/EFA |
| 2019 | Patrick Breyer | 243,302 | 0.65 (#11) | 1 / 96 | 0 | |
| 2024 | Anja Hirschel | 186,773 | 0.47 (#16) | 0 / 96 | 1 | – |
The Pirate Party was founded in Sweden by the former software entrepreneur Rick Falkvinge on Jan. 1, 2006, to reform copyright and patent law and to strengthen online privacy. The party's profile rose after Swedish police officers raided the popular file-sharing site The Pirate Bay that May. By September of that year a German branch had formed.
In autumn 2006, several hundred young people joined forces to launch the Pirate Party in Germany.
The [German] Pirates are an offshoot of a party that emerged in Sweden six years ago to campaign for reform of copyright, free Internet downloads and more protection of personal data.
Media related toPiratenpartei Deutschland at Wikimedia Commons
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