About SSW

The South-Schleswigian Voter’s Association – SSW – is the political party representing the Danish and the Frisian Minority in South Schleswig.

More than any other party in Germany, the SSW is inspired by scandinavian political culture, which is particularly noticeable in areas such as social policy, environmental questions and educational policy.

The SSW stands for a decentralised policy like in Scandinavia. Political decisions are to be taken as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen.

On that foundation, the SSW works for the improval of living- and work conditions for every citizen in South-Schleswig.

Since 1947 the SSW is represented in in the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein, called the "Landtag". Between 1971 and 1996 the legendary Karl Otto Meyer was our only member of the "Landtag". From 2012 to 2017 the SSW was part of the "Küstenkoalition", a coalition government with the german Labour Party (SPD) and the Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) in Schleswig-Holstein and Anke Spoorendonk was Minister of Justice, Culture and European Policy. In this period of time, the SSW was able to make serious progress in minority issues and the equality of the danish minority was made part of the Schleswig-Holstein constitution.

In the 2022 state parliamentary elections, the SSW achieved its best result in a state parliamentary election since the party was founded in 1948 with 5.7 per cent. The SSW is represented by four MPs in the 20th Schleswig-Holstein state parliament (2022-2027): Lars Harms, Jette Waldinger-Thiering, Christian Dirschauer and Sybilla Nitsch. 

The SSW is also represented in the German Bundestag. In 2021, the SSW participated in a federal election for the first time after 1961 and managed to enter the Bundestag at the first attempt with over 55,000 votes. Here, the new SSW member of parliament Stefan Seidler is particularly committed to the interests of minorities and Schleswig-Holstein, but also speaks out on all other current and socially relevant issues. 

At municipal level in Schleswig-Holstein, SSW is a stron force. In the most recent district and municipal council elections in 2023, the SSW achieved a record result with an average of over 20% of the vote, meaning that around 260 local politicians from the SSW are currently involved in the representation of 63 municipalities and towns. 

The SSW has a particularly strong position in the municipalities close to the border. We represent up to 40% of voters there. 

In terms of membership, the SSW is the fourth largest party in Schleswig-Holstein with around 3,150 members.