Luca Piwodda
PartyParty of Progress (since 2024)
Other partyFree Parliamentary Alliance (2018–2024)
OfficeMayor of Gartz
Term start9 June 2024
PredecessorInge Reppenhagen
Alma materUniversity of Greifswald
Websitewww.luca-piwodda.de
Birth placeSchwedt/Oder, Germany
Birth date4 September 1999

Luca Piwodda (born 4 September 1999) is a German politician who has served as the mayor of Gartz since 9 June 2024. He is the third youngest mayor in Germany, being elected at the age of 25.[1][2]

Early life

Piwodda was born on 4 September 1999 in Schwedt/Oder and grew up in Gartz. He completed his Abitur at the Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Gymnasium in 2017.[3] Piwodda attended the University of Greifswald, where he studied politics, history, and philosophy.[4][5]

Political career

Piwodda's political career began at the age of 15, when his family took him to a local Social Democratic Party (SPD) gathering. Later being able to secure an internship at the Bundestag,[1][6] Piwodda grew disillusioned with the SPD by the 2017 federal election and founded his own political party, the Free Parliamentary Alliance (FPA) in summer of 2018, a self-proclaimed centre-left party for the youth.[7][8][9][10]

During the 2024 Brandenburg local elections, Piwodda ran as an independent for four positions simultaneously: a seat on the Uckermark district council as well as mayor, Ortsbeirat, and city council of Gartz; all of which he won.[1] As the mayor of Gartz, Piwodda succeeded Inge Reppenhagen of the FPA who ran in place of Piwodda during the 2019 mayoral election against Piwodda's SPD grandfather.[7][11] In his 2024 mayoral bid, he won 74.35% of the vote (919 votes), defeating the only other candidate, Evelin Wenzel of The Left, in the first round.[12]

Piwodda's party, the FPA, merged with the Party of Progress (PdF) in 2024.[13][14] Piwodda has since served on the PdF's presidium.[15][16]

Personal life

Piwodda is a midfielder at the local SV Blau-Weiß 90 Gartz football club.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Luca Piwodda: Junger Bürgermeister will Demokratie stärken" (in German). ZDFheute. 2024-08-24. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  2. ^ "Ostdeutschland: „Hier ist keiner plötzlich rechtsextrem geworden. Leute fühlen sich von Bundespolitik verlassen“ - WELT" (in German). DIE WELT. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  3. ^ "Luca Piwodda - Über mich". www.luca-piwodda.de. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  4. ^ "Herr Piwodda meistert die Wende" (in German). Herr Piwodda meistert die Wende. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  5. ^ Weyer, Eva-Martina (2024-03-29). "Dieser 24-Jährige gründet seine eigene Partei und will Bürgermeister werden" (in German). www.nordkurier.de. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  6. ^ "Junger Bürgermeister: Aufbruch an der Oder" (in German). KOMMUNAL.DE. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  7. ^ "Der Kandidat - JoinPolitics" (in German). www.joinpolitics.org. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  8. ^ "Junger Bürgermeister in der Uckermark: Ein 25-Jähriger krempelt die Provinz um" (in de-DE). Der Tagesspiegel Online. ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  9. ^ "Politik in der Uckermark: Jung-Politiker Luca Piwodda aus Gartz bei Schwedt darf trotz Wahlniederlage auf Geldsegen hoffen" (in German). www.moz.de. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  10. ^ Liebetrau, Niklas (2024-08-12). "Brandenburgs jüngster Bürgermeister: „Der eine AfD-Stadtverordnete hier ist ein total Netter“" (in German). Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  11. ^ Garbe, Sophie (2021-08-15). "(S+) Wie Luca Piwodda gegen seinen SPD-Großvater in den Wahlkampf zog" (in German). Der Spiegel. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  12. ^ "Hauptwahl 09.06.2024 | Wahlen Brandenburg". wahlen.brandenburg.de. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  13. ^ Herrmann, Christian. "Gartz wählt AfD - und einen jungen Windkraft-Bürgermeister" (in German). ntv.de. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  14. ^ "Luca Piwodda - Die Zukunft in die Politik holen" (in German). Carls Zukunft. 2025-02-20. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  15. ^ "Vorstand" (in German). Partei des Fortschritts. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
  16. ^ Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische (2025-02-06). "Partei des Fortschritts | Bundestagswahl 2025" (in German). bpb.de. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  17. ^ ""In meiner Mannschaft bin ich nicht Bürgermeister Piwodda, sondern Mitspieler Luca"" (in German). www.fussball.de. Retrieved 2026-02-26.

Interviews