The South Schleswig Voters’ Association was separated from the Danish Minority party SSF, as the usual candidature of the culture association did not comply with the new Political Parties Act. Following the acknowledgement on 5th August 1948, the SSW immediately participated in the municipal elections, and won in Flensburg 31 % of the votes, and thus together with the →SPF (18 %) the majority of votes cast in the council board, which was in support of the reigning lord mayor I.C. Møller, and had been so since 1945. In 1951, the Danish majority in the council was lost, and when the political party →SPF dissolved, only two of the party’s members of the council transgressed to the SSW. I the 1960s the SSW Flensburg was surpassed by CDU and SPD, but stayed continuously as third force in the council board. For years the SSW picked the “Second” mayor. Only twice the votes slid under 20 % (1974 and 1990). In 2008 the SSW, for the first time since 1959, was again ahead of SPD and CDU, but was on her part surpassed by the WiF. The SSW-regional association and the SSF are based in the complex of buildings of the Flensborghus. At the elections of the parliament of Schleswig-Holstein, the party positions its candidates only in South Schleswig. But since 1955, the SSW is not subject to the general requirement of passing a 5% vote threshold to gain proportional seats in either the Regional Parliament (Landtag) or the Federal German Parliament (Bundestag). Since 1958 (as already from 1946 to 54), the SSW continuously holds at least one seat in the Regional/State Parliament (Landtag). Between 2012 and 2017, the SSW was part of the government for the first time. Following the regional elections in Schleswig-Holstein 2012, the SPD and the Greens (Grünen) formed the so called Coast Coalition („Danish Traffic Light“) and for the first time took over a political state ministry.
« Back to Glossary Index