Last modified: 2012-12-15 by pete loeser
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![[Free Voters Bavaria (Bavaria, Germany)]](../images/d/de}fwby.gif)
Image by Marcus Schmöger, 21 Jun 2002
Beside the usual parties, independent, "party-free" take part in local elections, usually on a municipal and county level. As these are organized on a local level, and just loosely joint together in umbrella organizations, the names of these lists differ somewhat. They are called by such names as: Free Voters (Freie Wähler), Supra-Partisan Voters (Überparteiliche Wähler), and Free Voters' Association (Freie Wählergemeinschaft). In more recent times the umbrella organizations, most notably the Free Voters of Bavaria (Freie Wähler Bayern), have been trying to organize a tighter cooperation, and even discuss taking part in the next-higher level of elections, the elections to the State Parliament (Landtag). The German-wide umbrella organization calls itself simply Freie Wähler. The Freie Wähler are usually considered conservative, but they are mainly pragmatic, as the usual party ideologies do not easily fit into municipal politics. They frequently stress that their only "ideology" is that they are "not a party".
Although there are some local or even state-wide organizations in most of the German States (Länder), the Free Voters of Bavaria, founded in 1978, is the most important of the umbrella organizations. The Freie Wähler Bayern got 15,3% of the votes in the Bavarian communal elections in 2002, the third-largest share of votes after CSU and SPD. In the 1998 Landtag elections they got 3,2% of the votes and no seats.
Since 1988 the Freie Wähler Bayern used a common logo, that has been replaced by a new logo in 2001. The new logo features - beside the inscriptions "FW" and "Freie Wähler" - a sun, outlined in orange. I was not sure if the new logo had been adopted for the flags as well, until I actually saw one at the 2002 Politische Aschermittwoch in Passau. The new flag (hanging flag) shows on a white field at the top the new logo - a sun outlined orange, the inscription "FW" in blueish grey, the inscription Freie Wähler in black— and at the
bottom again the sun, somewhat larger.
Sources: author's own observations at the Politische Aschermittwoch in Passau (political Ash Wednesday, 13 February 2002; German Freie Wähler website; Freie Wähler Bayern website; and the new logo of the Freie Wähler Bayern at the FW Bayern website
Marcus Schmöger, 21 Jun 2002
![[2009 convention banner]](../images/d/de}fwby3.gif)
Image by Marcus Schmöger, 8 Mar 2009
Vertical flag used 2009
Another winner of the Bavarian State Elections of 2008 was the FW (Freie Wähler, or Free Voters). For the first time ever this party, usually focused on municipal politics, gained seats in the State Parliament. They had a large convention in the Stadthalle at Deggendorf.
1. Flags in front of the convention hall: two vertical flags were hoisted in front of the convention hall. These were a new version to me, although with the already known logo: in addition to three times the logo in different
sizes the flag showed orange fields (fimbriated turquoise and white) in the upper left and lower right corner.
2. Flags hanging in the convention hall: these were the same new vertical variant.
3. Paper flags: the paper flags were straightforward, showing the logo and party name on a white field.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 Mar 2009
![[2009 convention table flag]](../images/d/de}fwby4.gif)
Image by Marcus Schmöger, 8 Mar 2009
Flag used 2009
This horizontal Free Voters of Bavaria Flag was used as a table flag at the Free Voters of Bavaria Convention held in the Stadthalle Convention Hall in Deggendorf in 2009.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 Mar 2009
![[Free Voters Bavaria 1988-2001 (Bavaria, Germany)]](../images/d/de}fwby1.gif)
Image by Marcus Schmöger, 21 Jun 2002
Flag used 1988-2001
Since 1988 the Freie Wähler Bayern used a common logo, that has been replaced by a new logo in 2001. The old logo was used on flags (hanging flags) as well.
Sources: Author's own observations at the Politische Aschermittwoch
in Passau (Political Ash Wednesday, 13 February 2002), and brochure Fahnen, Spanntransparente, Tischwimpel with drawing of the old flag
Marcus Schmöger, 21 Jun 2002