Although vandalism repeatedly occurs, the Christian Democrats are not the only ones to cling to traditional election posters. Social media is becoming more important as an advertising platform, “but we achieve different goals with different media”, says Gabriel Kunze, chairman of the Bonn SPD. Political scientists also advise that posters should continue to be used.

For Kunze, the election campaign only really begins when the posters are put up. “We notice that it is only through posters that people are aware there are elections at all”, he says. Posters give the parties the opportunity to draw attention to a broad range of issues and to the candidates. But posters are also a target for political opponents: “we always have problems with vandalism, but there is nothing we can do about it”. The Social Democrats always have posters in reserve so that damaged ones can be replaced quickly.

Some actions also cause resentment among the parties – the current example is again Axel Voss. Under his portraits, Jusos, the organisation for young SPD members posted the slogan: “I broke the internet, without understanding anything about it!” Although Kunze thinks it is good that the youth organisation is actively involved (“they can do something cheeky”), Christos Katzidis is angry. The Bonn CDU party leader calls the saying “underground. Such a thing simply does not belong”.

Is this further proof that election posters are stimulating debate? Tilman Mayer, Professor at the Institute for Political Science and Sociology at the University of Bonn, has examined the value of election posters. “Even as an old-fashioned instrument, they are important and almost essential for political competition”, he says; not to convince opponents “but to be visible on the street for the party’s own people”. If this were not the case, it would irritate the party supporters. “That would be like saying you dare not go out onto the street”.

What Mayer particularly notices in this election campaign is that Voss is “oversized” on his posters. That could appear to be provocative. “Moreover, he is controversial in younger circles because of his political statements”. Both make him a target for aggression.

To avoid this, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) unpacks its posters only a week before the election. “In the past, we could only collect about 20 percent of our election posters, the rest were damaged or lost beyond recognition”, says Sascha Ulbrich. He considers advertising in social media to be very important. For ecological reasons, he would like the parties to hang fewer posters. “But voters want the opposite”.

The parties are free to design posters as long as they do not contravene the law. Everything else has been regulated by a resolution by the Bonn City Council. According to this resolution, election billposting is permitted from three months before up until two weeks after the election. Whoever does not adhere to this, must “count on the fact that the city will remove the posters at the expense of the party”, explains Markus Schmitz from the press office. However, this has never happened before; so far a hint to the parties has always been sufficient.

Parties also have to register where they are going to hang their election advertising in advance. Some places are taboo, such as those where traffic is “distracted or inconvenienced in a dangerous or aggravating way”. For example, when traffic signs are concealed.

Ilja Bergen of The Left Party hangs posters where they are clearly visible and “people have time to look at them”. He finds the guidelines “very liberal”. The Bonn FDP would like to tighten them up: election posters should only be allowed to be hung up six weeks before the election. “We believe that many people feel annoyed”, says Florian Even. The poster costs of each party amount to several thousand euros – a lot of money for the local associations, as Green campaign manager Kay-Wilhelm Mähler explains. “But that is a good investment because we’re anchoring our messages in the cityscape”. The costs for thematic posters are borne by the federal party, and the local associations pay for the personal posters. (Original article: Nicolas Ottersbach; translation John Chandler)