Former SPD stronghold Cornberg: The divided village

In the last federal election, the SPD in Cornberg, North Hesse, still reached 40.8 percent – the AfD came to 17.9 percent. The issues of the election campaign are far away for many people in the small community.

Low clouds, desolate houses, an empty factory hall – at first glance, Cornberg is not a feast for the eyes. Almost 1400 people live in the former mining settlement. The place used to be characterized by workers – and therefore has always been an SPD stronghold. 40.8 percent voted for social democrats in the last federal election, but 17.9 percent also voted for the AfD.

“You can’t take any more from us”

Volker Krause is standing on the side of the road. He watches the hustle and bustle in the bakery across the street, the only one far and wide. Krause is a trained painter. He did his training in Cornberg. Since then he has had many jobs, and he was also unemployed. He has been voting for the SPD for more than 60 years – “out of tradition,” he says. “Because I was satisfied. Why should I change every four or five years? You have to stick together. That’s how I learned it earlier.”

The pensioner looks to the left. There is the “Medi-Bus”, a kind of rolling practice. There hasn’t been a doctor here for a long time. Michaela Lentge is waiting for her mother, who is currently being treated. She does not want to reveal who exactly Lentge will vote for on September 26th. But: “I wish for a change. The way it is now, it cannot go on. You cannot take any more away from us.”

Your mother has now finished her doctor’s visit. She hopes the Greens don’t win because they care about the auto industry. “We need the cars,” she says. Petrol or diesel are unlikely to become more and more expensive. “The people here don’t make a lot.”

Many feel left behind

The election campaign topics are far too far removed from the people in rural areas at the federal level, say mother and daughter. Reinhold Schweinsberg sees it that way too. The farmer is disappointed with politics, which is why he will not vote this year. “I can’t choose any party because they don’t keep what they promise.” Like many others in town, Schweinsberg looks as if he has lost confidence in politics, as if he feels left behind.

It is almost 30 kilometers to the next larger city. Restaurants, hairdressers, bank branches: almost everything is closed in Cornberg. Only an old cart is evidence of the earlier mining. Many Cornbergers are affected by unemployment. Your meeting point: the “Trinkhalle” in the center of the village. A frequent topic of conversation there are the refugees who have been admitted to Cornberg. Many in town are bothered by it. Nadine Vorgeiz too. She chooses the AfD. “I like them very much because they have exactly the same thoughts as I do: out with the foreigners. They have no business here!”

Ursula Kuhnsch sits a stone’s throw from the pub. She is active in the SPD local association and believes that many would still vote for the AfD in protest. “There are also many who have not yet voted. Our traditional voters are more likely to die than to migrate. And it is difficult for us to win new members.”

Upswing through closer proximity to the citizen?

Stefan Bender can understand that. He says the classic popular parties have lost their discriminatory power in favor of the fringe parties. Most politicians only want to be re-elected instead of really caring, he says. That is why he is no longer convinced of anyone in office. “The CDU is very colorless. The SPD continues to lose because its electorate has been alienated for decades. And the Greens are driving a course for the urban population.”

That is why Bender is – at the municipal level – chairman of the “Cornberger Citizens List”. He believes more in people tackling the problem than in party politics. Michaela Lentge and her mother see it that way too. They want more “doers and closeness to the citizen”, also at the federal level. And hope that this will bring the upswing back to Cornberg.