Citizens up close: insights into Bavarian politics with Alexander Hold

Citizens up close: insights into Bavarian politics with Alexander Hold

Maximilianeum, 81627 München, Deutschland - On July 16, 2025, over 40 citizens from the region attended the Bavarian state parliament in Munich. The invitation came from Alexander Hold, the Vice President of the Bavarian state parliament and MPs of the Free Voters. What an exciting day that offered a unique look behind the scenes of politics!

The group started the trip with a lunch together before going to lead through the impressive Maximilianeum, the seat of the Bavarian state parliament. An information film gave first insights into the tasks and the working method of the state parliament. Special highlights were the participation in a plenary debate on the subject of language support, where visitors watched and loved from the grandstand.

personal exchange and political topics

Alexander Hold took over an hour to chat with his guests and answer their questions. In doing so, he discussed current political issues that were parliamentary processes and shared personal experiences. The focus was particularly on preparation for plenary sessions, the role of women in politics and the future prospects of young people. Hold emphasized several times the importance of personal contact and the open dialogue to promote identification with democracy.

The visitors were impressed by the deep insights that they received into state politics. After returning to Kempten, they felt enriched with a strengthened awareness of citizens -close politics and lived democracy. Such experiences are essential to arouse interest in political participation, as well as the website of the political education suggests: citizens have a great interest to actively contribute to the political processes.

Citizen participation and the future of democracy

In times when the dissatisfaction with political institutions and the turnout is particularly important among young people, citizen participation is becoming increasingly important. According to an analysis, only about 2% of young people are involved in traditional political institutions. Alternative forms of political engagements are required here that are closer to the realities of young people.

The creation and discussion of proposals on citizens 'councils, as they last took in Germany, are a step in this direction. Projects such as the Citizens' Council offer the opportunity to actively develop political recommendations. This could be a key to overcome the crisis of trust in the democratic system and to discuss direct democracy as a responsible solution. Initiatives such as Stuttgart 21 demonstrate how citizen participation can be experienced and how important the dialogue between politics and citizens is.

On the website of the Bavarian state parliament, to be found at bayern.landtag.de can be called up additional documents and information that enables further insights into the parliamentary work. From printed matter to protocols to livestreams of the plenary sessions: there is a lot to discover here!

Overall, the event in the Bavarian state parliament was a complete success and illustrated how important personal contacts and the exchange between citizens and politics are. A day that hopefully motivates many to actively contribute to the political processes!