From Streets to Seats—A Qualitative Content Analysis of Election Poster Communication in the 2025 German Federal Election

The article analyzes the election poster communication of seven parties (or party alliances) in the 2025 German federal election. Based on a qualitative content analysis of 100 posters from the CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, Greens, Left, AfD, and BSW, visual and textual communication strategies as well as any innovative elements are examined. The findings show, among other things, that personalization remains a dominant resource across parties, that communicative blurring and emotionalization characterize the overall discourse, and that visual modernity is unevenly distributed. Overall, the poster campaigns of 2025 reflect both continuity and transformation in German party communication.