The fourth Woidke cabinet was the state government of Brandenburg formed on 11 December 2024. SPD Minister President Dietmar Woidke led the coalition of his party and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). This government ushered in the BSW as governing partner in any government in Germany for the first time as a so-called "red–purple coalition", two days ahead of BSW's entrance into the Voigt cabinet in Thuringia. Excluding the Minister-President, the cabinet comprised ten ministers. Among them seven were members of the SPD, two were from the BSW and one without party affiliation nominated by BSW.
From November 2025 onwards, two BSW MPs resigned from their party:de:André von Ossowski and :de:Jouleen Gruhn and then from their parliamentary group due to ‘authoritarian tendencies’ within BSW.https://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2025/11/bsw-brandenburg-landtag-landtagsabgeordnete-jouleen-gruhn-melanie-matzies-reinhard-simon-andre-von-ossowskib-bsw.html On 6 January 2026, Woidke announced the end of cooperation with the BSW parliamentary grouphttps://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2026-01/brandenburg-spd-bsw-koalition-bruch-dietmar-woidke-gxe and the end of the coalition between SPD and BSW.n-tv.de: Basis für Koalition ist nicht mehr gegeben, January 6, 2026 The three ministers chosen by the BSW (Finance minister Robert Crumbach, Health minister Britta Müller (de) and Infrastructure minister Detlef Tabbert (de) announced that they were no longer BSW members.https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2026-01/bsw-brandenburg-austritt-minister-britta-mueller-detlef-tabbert-gxehttps://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2026/01/minister-brandenburg-detlef-tabbert-britta-mueller-verlassen-bsw.html
The three ministers remained in office and Woidke's government continued as a minority government. As Crumbach and BSW-nominated vice-president of the Landtag Jouleen Gruhn joined the SPD parliamentary group, an SPD-CDU coalition would now have a majority of seats in the Landtag of Brandenburg and was pursued.
The AfD, leading in polls for a regular 2029 Brandenburg state election, tabled a motion to dissolve the Landtag for a snap election. In a special session on 9 January 2026, the move failed as it requires a two-thirds majority of 59 votes in order to pass. In March 2026, Woidke succeeded in forming a coalition with the CDU. The cabinet was subsequently reshuffled. This reshuffled cabinet is often referred to as the Woidke V cabinet, although formally it is a continuation of the government that has been in place since 2024.
Formation While the SPD gained 7 seats at the 2024 Brandenburg state election, the previous government were no longer able to command a majority as its main governing partner in the third Woidke cabinet the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lost three seats while the other partner, the Alliance 90/The Greens, failed to clear the 5% threshold and thus was completely shut out of the legislature. The composition of the Landtag is (as of 2024) as follows (showing only parties with seats before or after the election):
Party LeaderListDirectTotal Social Democratic Party Dietmar Woidke 13 19 32 Alternative for Germany Hans-Christoph Berndt 5 25 30 Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance Robert Crumbach 14 0 14 Christian Democratic Union Jan Redmann 12 0 12
With the Landtag consisting of 88 seats, 45 votes in the state parliament is the smallest majority. The Landtag held two ballots on December 11, 2024, and confirmed its confidence in Minister President Woidke on the second ballot. Balloting for to confirm the Minister President were as follows: Candidate Position1st Ballot2nd Ballot Dietmar Woidke (SPD) For 43 48.9% 50 56.8% Against 40 45.5% 36 40.9% Abstentions 2 2.3% 1 1.1% Spoiled 2 2.3%
The fourth Woidke cabinet was sworn in after Woidke received 50 out of 88 votes on the second ballot.
Cabinet (before 17 March 2026) Portfolio Minister Party Term of OfficeStartEndMinister-PresidentState ChancellorDietmar WoidkeSPD incumbentDeputy Minister-PresidentRobert CrumbachIndependent(BSW until 6 January 2026)incumbentFinance and EuropeInterior and CommunitiesKatrin Lange(Minister for Finance and Europe in Woidke III)SPD René WilkeSPD(Independent until November 2025) incumbentAgriculture, Food, Environment and Consumer ProtectionHanka MittelstädtSPD (acting prior : Katrin Lange) incumbentEducation, Youth and SportsSteffen FreibergSPD Continued from Woidke III incumbentScience, Research and CultureManja SchüleSPD Continued from Woidke III incumbentEconomic Affairs, Labor, Energy and Climate ProtectionDaniel KellerSPD incumbentJustice and DigitalizationBenjamin GrimmSPD incumbent Health and Social Affairsnon-partisan (nominated by BSW)Independent(BSW from September 2025 until 6 January 2026) incumbentInfrastructure and Regional PlanningIndependent(BSW until 6 January 2026) incumbentResponsible for the State ChancelleryKathrin SchneiderSPD Continued from Woidke III incumbent
Cabinet (after 17 March 2026) Office Photo Name PartyMinister-PresidentState ChancelleryDietmar WoidkeSPDDeputy Minister-PresidentJan RedmannCDUMinister of the Interior and Municipal AffairsMinister of FinanceDaniel KellerSPDMinister of Economic Affairs, Energy, Climate Protection and European AffairsMartina KlementCSU(nominated by CDU)Minister of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Social CohesionRené WilkeSPDMinister of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Consumer ProtectionHanka MittelstädtSPDMinister of Science, Research and CultureManja SchüleSPDMinister of Education, Youth and SportGordon HoffmannCDUMinister of Justice and DigitalisationBenjamin GrimmSPDMinister of Infrastructure and Regional PlanningRobert CrumbachSPDHead of the State ChancelleryKathrin SchneiderSPD
State Secretaries The State Secretaries are the most senior civil servants of the state of Brandenburg. They serve as departmental heads of the ministries, permanent deputies of the ministers, or — like the State Representative of Brandenburg to the Federal Government — take on special responsibilities. State Chancellery and Ministries State SecretariesState ChancelleryDavid Kolesnyk (SPD)State Representative of Brandenburg to the Federal GovernmentMinistry of FinanceFrank Stolper (SPD)Ministry of the Interior and Municipal AffairsUwe Schüler (CDU)Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Consumer ProtectionStephan Nickisch (non-partisan)Ministry of Education, Youth and SportIsabelle Haß (CDU)Ministry of Science, Research and CultureTobias Dünow (SPD)Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy, Climate Protection and European AffairsMarkus Niggemann (CDU)Ministry of Justice and DigitalisationErnst Bürger (non-partisan)Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Social CohesionJohannes Wagner (non-partisan)Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional PlanningVolker-Gerd Westphal (SPD)
References
See also Second & Third Woidke cabinet 2024 Brandenburg state election Red–purple coalition