Attack on the power grid Tens of thousands fight against darkness and cold in Berlin
A 97-year-old woman has found shelter in an emergency shelter.
Image: dpa
Experts are working feverishly to restore the power supply.
Image: dpa
Many people are using the opportunity to charge their cell phones at contact points.
Image: dpa
A 97-year-old woman has found shelter in an emergency shelter.
Image: dpa
Experts are working feverishly to restore the power supply.
Image: dpa
Many people are using the opportunity to charge their cell phones at contact points.
Image: dpa
Darkness, cold, no grid: After an attack on Berlin's power supply, tens of thousands of people are struggling with the state of emergency. How helpers and neighbors are now rising above themselves.
04.01.2026, 18:42
dpa
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- A politically motivated attack on cables in south-west Berlin has left tens of thousands of households and businesses without electricity, heating and in some cases communication in the middle of winter.
- The power outage is expected to last until Thursday and will lead to closed schools, emergency accommodation and major everyday problems for many of those affected.
- Authorities assume that the perpetrators are left-wing extremists. Police and politicians announce harsh consequences.
Tens of thousands of people without electricity, heating and hot food in the middle of winter, widespread darkness and a large-scale deployment of police and emergency services: Saturday's attack on Berlin's power supply has had dramatic consequences for the capital that will be felt for days to come. One day after the attack on important cables near a power station in south-west Berlin, politicians and authorities are certain that it was a politically motivated attack and that left-wing extremists were behind it.
A letter of confession from a "Vulkan group" that has emerged is authentic, announced Senator of the Interior Iris Spranger (SPD). The police's state security department had previously examined the letter, which was also published on several relevant web portals. At the same time, Berlin declared a so-called major incident situation in order to be able to call on the help of the German armed forces more easily.
Second attack within a few months
"It is unacceptable that left-wing extremists are once again obviously attacking our power grid and putting people's lives at risk," said Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) in response to the letter. "We will investigate who these perpetrators are on a massive scale and with great commitment, they deserve a truly just punishment." It was only in September 2025 that a similar attack resulted in a major blackout in the Berlin district of Treptow-Köpenick.
The long list of suspected perpetrators in the current case is entitled "Cutting off the power to those in power". "In the greed for energy, the earth is drained, sucked dry, burned, maltreated, burned down, raped, destroyed", it said. The gas-fired power plant in Berlin-Lichterfelde had been "successfully sabotaged". "Power outages were not the target of the action, but the fossil fuel industry," the group claims in the letter.
Early on Saturday morning, a fire on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal within sight of the power plant damaged more than a dozen important lines, including several high-voltage lines. According to Franziska Giffey (SPD), the Senator for Economic Affairs responsible for energy, incendiary devices were placed directly under the cables, destroying them with great heat.
Tens of thousands of households without power until Thursday
The resulting power outage initially affected 45,000 households and more than 2,200 businesses. In the meantime, 10,000 households and 300 commercial customers have been reconnected, according to Stromnetz Berlin. The districts affected are Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde, where there are many detached houses and villa estates, as well as high-rise buildings. The police are appealing for witnesses.
According to the operator Stromnetz Berlin, the damage to the power grid is so severe and the repairs so complicated that the emergency situation will take an exceptionally long time. It is not expected that all electricity customers will be supplied again until Thursday afternoon. With frosty temperatures and plenty of fresh snow, this poses considerable problems for many people.
Many everyday problems for people
Several large hospitals in the city districts were reconnected to the power grid after a day and did not have to be evacuated thanks to emergency generators. However, the power outage also affected numerous care facilities and people in need of care in their homes. According to Health Senator Ina Czyborra (SPD), the Berlin Senate is in close consultation with the fire department, among others, to relocate these people to care facilities in other parts of the city that have reported free capacity if necessary.
The fire department and aid organizations set up emergency shelters where people could spend the night, warm up and get something to eat and drink. Church congregations also opened their rooms. However, many elderly or infirm people are unable to take advantage of such offers because the elevators in their high-rise buildings are not working and they are sitting in apartments in increasingly cold weather.
It is important for many to charge their cell phones. They can do this in the emergency shelters, but also at other decentralized contact points that have been hastily set up by the fire department or the technical relief organization. Emergency calls can also be made there. Most people in the affected districts do not have internet reception.
There are many examples of neighborly help or other support. For example, the management of the Diakonie-Hospice Wannsee expressed their gratitude that firefighters had helped without ifs and buts to take the residents to a nearby hospital that had offered help. There, the people could continue to be cared for by the hospice team.