Jew Wins Election as Mayor of Frankfurt
The German city of Frankfurt has elected its first Jewish mayor since 1933 and only its second in history.
In elections held Sunday, Peter Feldmann, a 53-year-old economist and political scientist, won with 57 percent of the vote – surprising even himself, according to news reports. The Social Democrat will succeed Petra Roth of the conservative Christian Democratic Union.
Feldmann, the former head of a home for seniors, takes the helm of a city with some 650,000 inhabitants and Germany’s fourth-largest Jewish population.
The last Jewish mayor of the city was its first: Ludwig Landmann served for nine years until 1933, when the Nazis came to power. At the time, the city boasted the second-largest Jewish population in Germany, with 30,000 members. Today it has about 7,000 members, according to the community website. Most have come from the former Soviet Union in the past 20 years.
Feldman, who reportedly identifies with Liberal Judaism, is a co-founder and active member of the Working Group of Jewish Social Democrats, a 5-year-old political caucus.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
