Potter Georg Klampfleuthner elected mayor of Chiemsee islands with 78% after March vote fiasco
Georg Klampfleuthner, a potter living on Fraueninsel, secured 78 percent of the vote in a repeat election after the previous mayor lost majority in March despite being the sole candidate.
Background: the March election
Bavaria's smallest municipality, Chiemsee (covering Fraueninsel, Herreninsel, and Krautinsel), held a mayoral election in March. Incumbent Armin Krämmer, the only name on the ballot, received just 47.7 percent; the remaining voters wrote in other names, a quirk of local election law. A long-serving councillor, written in by 21.5 percent, unexpectedly placed second but declined to contest a runoff, forcing the entire process to restart.
The repeat contest
On 14 June 2026, the community of 144 eligible voters returned to the polls. The Free Voters Group Chiemsee (Freie Wählergruppe Chiemsee) had nominated Georg Klampfleuthner, a local potter, after Krämmer resigned when he lost an internal party vote. Klampfleuthner was again the sole candidate. Turnout reached 86.4 percent, well above the Bavarian average, and he won 78 percent of the valid votes. Krämmer still received 18 write-in votes on the day.
The new mayor
Klampfleuthner lives on Fraueninsel and runs a pottery workshop there; he intends to continue his craft alongside mayoral duties. He identified a heating concept for the car-free island and desilting of the lake around the community as his top priorities.
Council and community
The same list also ensured that the Benedictine convent on Fraueninsel will have representation in the eight-seat municipal council: Sister Elisabeth is the next in line on the list and will take a seat, even though no nun was elected directly in March. Chiemsee is home to nuns, fishers, artists, and tourism workers, spread across the three islands. The electoral saga stretched over three months, from the first invalid result to the candidate's refusal and the assembly that selected Klampfleuthner.
