The 2023 local elections on Sylt brought tension and loss of votes for the established parties. Despite losing votes, the CDU remained the strongest force in the Sylt community. The SPD and the Greens also recorded losses.
The SSW and “Die Insulaner”, on the other hand, were able to gain significantly. In the local elections on Sylt on May 14, 2023, the CDU won twelve seats. The Sylter Voters’ Association (SWG), the SPD, the South Schleswig Voters’ Association (SSW) and the Greens each secured four seats. The Insulaner list received three seats, while the FDP and the Zukunft party each won one seat. Andreas Dobrzinski (CDU) is the mayor.
The mayor of Sylt is the non-party Nikolas Häckel. He manages the administration of the municipality independently and is guided by the requirements of the municipal council. He takes care of the implementation of their decisions and ensures that the administration works efficiently and properly. If there are urgent decisions, he also acts on behalf of the local council and its committees.
The mayor is directly elected for six years and has no political mandate. It not only manages Sylt, but also the associated communities of Hörnum, Kampen, List and Wenningstedt-Braderup.
Nikolas Häckel, who grew up on Sylt and was trained as an administrative assistant there, also completed a degree in administration. Along with the mayor, the municipal council is the highest decision-making body in the municipality of Sylt. It is responsible for all important decisions in the area of self-government and monitors their implementation.
The election of the municipal council took place on June 29, 2023. The municipal council consists of 32 members. The chairman of this body is the mayor.
After Mayor Häckel was on sick leave for a long period of time in 2024, calls for a deselection process became louder. A hearing then took place in May 2024. On medical advice, Mayor Häckel did not personally attend the main committee meeting; his lawyer represented him instead.
He explained that Häckel was currently unable to be contacted due to his illness and that he had also announced through his lawyer at the non-public meeting that he would not be resigning.
In addition to these challenges, the island of Sylt has faced various problems, including illegal vacation rentals and a budget crisis. Protests by punks and climate activists have also caused unrest.
After the controversial video from the pony club, Mayor Häckel, together with the mayors of the Sylt communities and the representatives of the insular tourism companies and tourism associations, spoke up on the Sylt homepage and condemned the racist slogans that can be seen and heard in the video were.