A far-left German political party that is attempting to forcibly seize privately owned housing won Berlin’s state elections on September 20.
The Left Party
The party, aptly called the Left Party, won 25 percent of the popular vote (up from 12 percent in 2023) and 47 seats in the 158-seat Berlin House of Representatives. As the largest party in the chamber, it has a strong chance of leading the city-state’s next government. Combined with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party, leftist parties retain a majority in the chamber.
The Left Party is directly descended from the Socialist Unity Party that ruled communist East Germany during the Cold War.
The conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party also made gains — mirroring its results elsewhere in Germany — rising to 16 percent of the popular vote from nine percent in 2023. However, leftist parties perform more strongly in Berlin than most other German states. The city currently has a coalition government made up of the moderately “conservative” Christian Democratic Union and the SPD.
Seizing Private Property
The Left Party campaigned on nationalizing housing and forcibly seizing rental properties from their private owners. Leading up to the election, lead candidate Elif Eralp said that “the housing issue is the central social issue facing our city, and … I will pull out all the stops to make Berlin affordable again and lower rents.” Politico noted that “the party has taken inspiration from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani” in its emphasis on socialist housing policies. Eralp doubled down on her party’s proposal following the election, and coalition negotiations are still underway.
The Left Party is not the only party pushing for nationalized housing. Politico reports:
Nearly 60 percent of voters backed expropriating properties from major real estate companies in a 2021 referendum. The organization that initiated that referendum estimates that the city could forcibly buy as many as 220,000 apartments for up to 60 percent of their market value — amounting to a total of €18 billion.
The Green Party also supports seizing privately owned housing, giving pro-nationalization parties a near-majority in the Berlin House of Representatives.
Provisions of Germany’s constitution appear to allow the Left Party to enact its radical proposal. For example, Article 15 of the German Constitution declares that “land, natural resources, and the means of production may … be transferred to public ownership or other forms of public enterprise.”
The Left Party’s victory reveals the Establishment’s true leanings. Although the media and political elites hysterically oppose the conservative, pro-national-sovereignty AfD — and have even sought to ban the party outright — they largely overlook a communist-descended party that advocates policies far more extreme.
The Need to Limit Government
The elections also demonstrate the importance of having a constitution that limits government and protects God-given rights. As the U.S. Declaration of Independence proclaims, “all men … are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” and government exists “to secure these rights.” The U.S. Constitution — if properly interpreted and enforced — upholds the purpose of government. To truly support limited government, Germany’s constitution must be brought into alignment with those principles.
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