Power supply in Berlin restarted

According to a spokesperson for the state's electricity grid company, Stromnetz Berlin, all households should gradually have power again over the next few hours. The crucial provisional cable connection was already restored and tested positive during the night, according to the statement.

"However, before the power is restored for everyone, some of the customers in the originally affected area who have already had their power restored will experience a power interruption lasting around 15 minutes," the operator added. "Similar to changing a plug to a different socket, this will ensure the power supply is restored via the temporary line on the Teltow Canal."

Over the course of the morning, critical facilities such as clinics and care services were informed that the power would soon be back on. Consumers were also asked via a warning system to disconnect emergency power generators from the grid in order to avoid damage.

Even shorter power outages possible

However, the supply to all households should be stable over the course of the day. The authorities called on people not to use appliances with high power consumption immediately after the power grid was connected. These included washing machines, tumble dryers, kettles, fan heaters and charging stations for electric vehicles.

According to the operator, the power outage caused by an attack on a cable bridge in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district was the longest in the German capital's post-war history. Since Saturday morning, 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses have been without power. According to the governing mayor Kai Wegner, a total of around 100,000 people were affected by the blackout. Berlin had declared a so-called major damage situation on Sunday.

Over the past few days, more and more households have gradually been reconnected to the grid. In order to restore the overall supply as quickly as possible, the electricity grid company worked on a temporary solution: two lines with a particularly large transport capacity were connected to each other at the Dahlem substation. The work was complicated, partly due to the low temperatures and partly due to the different materials of the two cables.

Federal prosecutor's office has taken over the investigation

A left-wing extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack. The investigation into the perpetrators has not yet yielded any results. The police spoke of very extensive crime scene work.

The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, Germany's highest prosecuting authority, has now taken over the investigation. In their view, there is suspicion of anti-constitutional sabotage, membership of a terrorist organization, arson and disruption of public services.

In a letter of confession, one of the left-wing extremist "Vulkan groups", which have allegedly repeatedly carried out arson attacks on public infrastructure since 2011, especially in Berlin and the neighboring federal state of Brandenburg, claimed responsibility for the crime.

According to the security authorities, a total of twelve arson attacks on public infrastructure have been committed in Berlin and Brandenburg since 2011, after which anonymous authors, who described themselves as "volcano groups", published letters of confession.

According to the current state of knowledge, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution assumes that the latest arson attack is an authentic statement by the "Vulkan group - Den Herrschenden den Saft abdrehen" and an attack motivated by left-wing extremism.

"It must be assumed that there is not a single group of people behind the "Vulkan groups"," the Federal Office stated on request. Rather, it is likely to be several groups using the name "volcano group" like a franchise. Ideologically, the "volcano groups" belong to the militant-anarchist movement.

Politicians speak of terrorism

Berlin's interior administration classified the letter of confession as authentic on Sunday. Social Democrat Interior Senator Iris Spranger - like Christian Democrat Mayor Wegner before her - spoke of "left-wing terrorism". Perpetrators had deliberately and knowingly accepted that people would come to harm.