When in 2015 the Syrian Ryyan Alshebl disembarked from a makeshift raft in the Greek island of lesbosI couldn’t imagine that eight years later would become mayor of a peaceful german town. “It was dark and there was not a single light on Lesbos,” she recalled at a news conference in berlinbefore assuming his position. “A few hours earlier we were in a normal Mediterranean city in Turkey. Then the atmosphere changed with the cold and the dark and, of course, the fear that is felt on that type of journey,” added the mayor.
alshebl, who in 2025 was 21 years old, was part of the wave of refugees that arrived in Europe that year. She left Greece and crossed Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia by public transport and on foot, taking 12 days to reach Germany.
He was housed in a refugee center in althengstetta rural area near the Black Forest. “It was a shared space, with a bed, a roof and some food, things I’m still grateful for,” she said.
alshebl quickly learned to speak German with fluency -“if you’re in a rural area you don’t have a choice”- and got an internship as administrative assistant at Althengstett Town Hall. He obtained German nationality in 2022, a requirement for anyone who wants to apply to the local elections.
Assume responsibilities
At the age of 29, he will take office in June as mayor of ostelsheima town near althengstett. He is considered the first Syrian refugee from the wave of refugees that arrived in Germany between 2015 and 2016 to be elected to a politic charge.
Alshebl set off for Europe with four friends, leaving behind his parents and one brother, although a second brother had already gone to Germany on a student visa. He said his experiences fleeing Syria and having to “take responsibility not only for (myself) but for others” prompted him to political activity.
Alshebl ran as an independent candidate and obtained 55.41% of the vote. She is also a member of the Greens, “because she weather protection It’s very important” to him.
His victory is all the more surprising because ostelsheima town of 2,700 inhabitants located between mountains, is a traditionally conservative community.
He far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) used anger over the entry of asylum seekers in 2015-2016 to win votes and enter Parliament for the first time.
“Opening to the world”
But alshebl He says he has never seen right-wing extremism in person. Alshebl believes that he was elected because listened to people’s concerns, from child care to digitization issues. With the wave of congratulations she received from around the world, it became clear that her story was “bigger than a mayoral election in a small community.”
alshebl he believes that the fact that he won against two other local candidates who grew up in the area says a lot about the mentality of the voters. “It’s a sign that people didn’t think about the origin, but about the qualifications. It’s a sign of openness to the world,” she said.
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Alshebl’s parents, a teacher and an agricultural engineer, belong to the druse minority of Syria, although he claims not to be religious. He has “mixed feelings” about Syria, a country he has not been able to visit since he lives in Germany. “It’s the country where I was born and raised. I miss the people I grew up with,” she said.
“But I’m glad we had the chance to live here” when others haven’t, he added.