Greens celebrate anniversary: ​​memories of the beginnings in Bad Neustadt!

Greens celebrate anniversary: ​​memories of the beginnings in Bad Neustadt!

On October 7, 2025, the members of Alliance 90/The Greens from the Rhön-Grabfeld region gathered in the old office building in Bad Neustadt for a celebratory general meeting. At the beginning, special honors were given to long-standing members who have worked for the party over the years. The jubilarians not only received a certificate of honor, but also small gifts that reflected the appreciation for their commitment. It became emotional, as many of those honored reminisced about the founding days of the party in the district.

Back when the Greens were still perceived as a fringe group, their tireless enthusiasm laid the foundation for the party's future development. How MainPost reported, the spirit of optimism was unmistakable at this time. In the Rhön-Grabfeld district, the Greens took an early look at new social problems and collected ideas for solutions. That was the craft of the pioneers whose commitment made a significant contribution to the Greens' current anchoring in the political landscape.

The roots of Alliance 90/The Greens

The Greens have an eventful history that began in West Germany in January 1980. It emerged from the environmental and social movements of the 1970s, while in the GDR the Alliance 90 emerged from the civil rights movements in 1990. Both movements merged in 1993 to form the common party Alliance 90/The Greens. The East German Greens joined forces with the West Germans and thus formed a new political force.

The first group of voters called “Other Political Association The Greens” achieved 3.2% of the vote in the European elections in 1979 and was thus able to celebrate its first successes. These beginnings show that the Greens had a good knack for putting current issues on the agenda early on. In the years that followed, the party experienced ups and downs, for example when it failed to pass the five percent threshold in the federal election in West Germany in 1990, while Alliance 90 had strong votes in the East.

Political milestones and challenges

The following period was characterized by internal challenges and political wing fights between the “Fundis” and “Realos”, which often questioned the direction of the party. Nevertheless, the Greens managed to get back into the Bundestag in 1994. The red-green coalition under Gerhard Schröder, which was formed in 1998, represented another important milestone in history, as Joschka Fischer became Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor.

But like every party, the Greens also had their difficulties: after the 2005 federal election they had to go into opposition and lost votes. Nevertheless, they remained active and present. In 2016, they managed to get 30.3% of the vote in the state elections in Baden-Württemberg and became the strongest force in parliament there.

Commitment in regions like Rhön-Grabfeld is still very important for the Greens today. As last week's general meeting showed, work will continue in the future to address current issues and further develop the party. Wikipedia emphasizes that the history of Alliance 90/The Greens is not only characterized by political change, but also by continuous commitment to sustainability and social progress.