The Free Voters lose one of their 14 district administrators in Bavaria. Peter von der Grün, district administrator in the Upper Bavarian district of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, has announced that he is leaving the party – “with immediate effect”, as it is stated in a four-page letter to the party and parliamentary group that is available to the SZ. Von der Grün would like to keep his position and “return to technical work”.
Behind the local politician’s departure from the party there are discord within the party. Above all, the relationship between the incumbent and his influential predecessor Roland Weigert is shattered. Von der Grün accuses the ex-party friend of “power games for positions” and described Weigert as a “wrecking ball” in his letter. Among other things, he is said to have positioned free voters in the district council against the incumbent district administrator, who Green complained about a lack of support in his group.
Weigert was district administrator of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen for the Free Voters from 2008 to 2018, then he moved into the state parliament and is currently chairman of the interior committee. Even after moving into state politics, he played an active role in Neuburg district politics, sits on the district council and was until recently head of the FW district association. He commented on the attacks from the greens in the Neuburger Rundschau reserved, it serves as a lightning rod. “You have to endure that and that’s what I do.”
There has also recently been headwind for von der Grün outside of his own ranks: Last year, 18 municipal mayors criticized the district administrator’s style in an angry letter, for example in the distribution of money in the district budget. There is also a dispute about the future of the Schrobenhausen district hospital.
The next district administrator election is in spring 2026. When asked, he leaves it open whether Peter von der Grün wants to continue as a district administrator without a party or faction or whether he will switch to another faction. “I’m not ruling out a change,” he says, and there are already “corresponding offers.” But it is still too early for such a decision.
As a non-attached district administrator, von der Grün would be a special case in Bavaria. Political decisions should not become easier without home power in the district council, on the contrary. “I have to work out solutions and look for majorities,” replies von der Grün. “Just like before.”