Pirate Party Germany

The Pirate Party Germany (German: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (German: Piraten), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It shares ideas with the Swedish Piratpartiet and is part of a larger group of pirate parties around the world, called the Pirate Parties International.

In 2011 and 2012, the party gained enough support to join four state parliaments (Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein) and the European Parliament. After that, their popularity dropped, and by 2017, they no longer had seats in any German state parliaments. Their members in the European Parliament, like Felix Reda and Patrick Breyer, worked with other European pirate parties.

The party focuses on freedom online and fights against unnecessary government rules on the internet. This attracted many young people. Over time, the party grew to include more ideas about social and political progress, not just internet issues. Former leader Sebastian Nerz described the party as a social-liberal group that cares deeply about political transparency.

Party platform

The Pirate Party Germany wants to protect people’s rights when using phones and the internet. They are against rules that make the government keep everyone’s data for a long time.

The party cares about keeping personal information private. They also want changes to rules about copying and sharing information, education, genes that can be owned, and how medicines are handled. They believe governments should be open and easy for people to check online. The party also supports giving every person a regular amount of money from the government and letting people vote directly online.

History

Foundation

The party began on September 10, 2006. It was started by students and young people who were inspired by a similar group in Sweden.

Rise

In 2009, a member of Germany’s main parliament left his old party and joined the Pirates. Soon after, another important politician from Germany’s Green Party also joined.

The Pirates first tried to win votes in elections in 2009. They didn’t win any seats but did pretty well, getting almost 2% of the votes. This showed people that they were becoming more popular. Many thought they might grow big, like Germany’s Green Party did years before.

Breakthrough

Their first big win was in Berlin in 2011. They got almost 9% of the votes and won seats in the city’s government for the first time. This surprised everyone, including the Pirates themselves! Around this time, many people around the world were excited about change, which helped the Pirates grow.

By 2012, the Pirates had won seats in three more German states and had thousands of members. Polls showed they were becoming one of the more popular parties in the country.

See also: Opinion polling for the 2013 German federal election

Fall

After 2012, things started to go downhill for the Pirates. Many people felt they weren’t ready to lead or work together as a team. They had many arguments and did things that made people unhappy.

By 2013, they lost many votes in elections and never got back to their earlier success. By 2025, they were getting less than 1% of the votes in big elections, showing just how much they had fallen from their peak.

2009 federal election

In September 2009, the Pirates got almost 2% of the votes in Germany’s big national election but didn’t win any seats.

2009 European Parliament election

They also tried to win seats in Europe’s parliament in 2009 but only got less than 1% of the votes.

State and regional elections

In 2009 and the years after, the Pirates tried to win votes in different parts of Germany. Sometimes they got around 2% of the votes, but often less. Their big win came in Berlin in 2011 when they got almost 9% and won seats.

2013 federal election

After some problems and bad news, the Pirates lost a lot of support. In the 2013 national election, they only got about 2% of the votes.

2014 European Parliament election

In 2014, they won one seat in Europe’s parliament.

2016 Berlin state election

In Berlin in 2016, their support dropped to just over 1%, and they lost all their seats.

2017 dropout from state parliaments

By 2017, the Pirates had lost all their seats in Germany’s state parliaments.

2019 European Parliament election

In 2019, they kept one seat in Europe’s parliament.

2021 federal election

In 2021, they got less than 0.4% of the votes in the national election.

2024 European Parliament election

In 2024, they lost their seat in Europe’s parliament.

2025 federal election

In 2025, they got only a tiny fraction of the votes in the national election.

2025 North Rhine-Westphalia local elections

Also in 2025, they did very poorly in local elections in one of Germany’s states.

Election results

Bundestag

European Parliament