City of Bonn in transition: Dörner hands over office to Déus – what can we expect?

City of Bonn in transition: Dörner hands over office to Déus – what can we expect?

On October 30, 2025, the outgoing mayor Katja Dörner will receive her successor Guido Déus in the Bonn town hall. The date is not an official handover day, but it marks the last day of Dörner's term of office, which ends on October 31st. Dörner would like to thank the city administration employees and invites everyone to a farewell meeting. She looks back proudly on her term in office while wishing Déus good luck for the future.
After almost five years in office, Dörner is replaced. She was defeated in the election on October 15, 2025 by Guido Déus from the CDU, who won the mayoral election in the runoff with 54 percent of the vote. Dörner got 46 percent and could be considered the loser of the election campaign due to her central transport transition initiatives, which were met with incomprehension by many voters. This issue made a lot of headlines during the election campaign, especially in the debate about the redesign of Adenauerallee, and pushed other relevant issues such as social housing and education into the background.

A new beginning for Bonn

Guido Déus will officially take office on November 1, 2025. His first public appearance is scheduled for the next day: on November 2nd, he is expected at the Käpt'n Book reading festival in the Bundeskunsthalle. Shortly afterwards, on November 3rd, he plans to visit the staff council to get to know the employees in the town hall in person. These steps show that Déus has a good hand for the start of his new term in office and wants to seek dialogue with the employees.

The political landscape in Bonn will also change with Déus’ election. It is being discussed whether the CDU, which relies on coalitions, can forge a “civic alliance” with other parties in order to achieve a stable majority in the city council. An interaction between the CDU, SPD, FDP, BBB and Volt is mathematically possible, but remains politically sensitive. It could also be that a minority coalition is considered that seeks majorities on specific issues. In this constellation, Déus will play the role of mediator in order to enable respectful dialogue and constructive cooperation between the parties. Both Déus and Dörner emphasized that respectful cooperation is necessary to overcome the challenges in Bonn.

The look forward

For Déus, who will now be sworn in at the inaugural meeting of the Council on November 13, 2025, it is an exciting step into new responsibility. The meeting will be broadcast live on the City of Bonn website so that interested citizens can experience the events up close. In view of the upcoming challenges in Bonn, it is to be hoped that Déus and his team will show a good hand.