{"id":499575,"date":"2026-01-07T19:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T19:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/499575\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T19:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T19:16:09","slug":"how-is-it-possible-berliners-demand-answers-after-sabotage-causes-blackout-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/499575\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018How is it possible?\u2019: Berliners demand answers after sabotage causes blackout | Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Silke Peters bought a crank radio and a camping stove just after the start of Russia\u2019s full invasion of Ukraine, her husband thought she was \u201ca little crazy\u201d. \u201cHe put me down, only half-jokingly, as a prepper,\u201d she said, referring to the kind of person who stockpiles in case of catastrophe.<\/p>\n

For almost four years, the items gathered dust in the cellar of the Peters\u2019 two-room flat in Zehlendorf, a well-to-do district of Berlin. But in recent days the windup radio \u2013 with its inbuilt torch and charge point \u2013 has come into its own during Germany\u2019s longest power cut since the second world war.<\/p>\n

Leftwing anarchist militants have claimed responsibility<\/a> for an arson attack on Saturday that cut the electricity to about 45,000 households, almost 2,000 businesses, four hospitals, 74 care homes, 20 schools and a considerable chunk of the public transport network in south-west Berlin.<\/p>\n

Federal state prosecutors have taken over the criminal investigation into the saboteurs, Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group), who said their aim was to \u201cturn off the juice of those in power\u201d and to highlight Germany\u2019s overdependence on fossil fuels. Aside from some footprints left in the snow, investigators admit they have little to go on so far.<\/p>\n

Across Berlin there has been an outpouring of goodwill towards those who lost power. Photograph: Clemens Bilan\/EPA<\/p>\n

On Wednesday morning the remaining 20,000 households and 850 businesses still without heating or hot water were finally reconnected. But many Germans still feel they are without answers to three vital questions: who was responsible, how could the infrastructure of Europe\u2019s largest economy prove so vulnerable, and how can authorities prevent such an attack from happening again?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is wrong with this city?\u201d an anguished middle-aged man was heard asking on camera as Berlin\u2019s mayor, Kai Wegner, dropped in on a sports hall housing residents on army camp beds. The man\u2019s mother, who had been moved out of her nursing home, was lying on one of the beds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is it possible that the power grid is so insecure?\u201d asked Anar, a cleaner in her 60s who was stuck on a train on the outskirts of Berlin on Saturday night, fearing she would be unable to get to her workplace \u2013 or be paid. \u201cThis has made a lot of people very angry.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 45,000 households were affected by the blackout, which was caused by leftwing anarchist militants. Photograph: Ralf Hirschberger\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Red Cross, which came to the aid of thousands this week, has led urgent calls for more investment to be made in domestic civil protection and disaster relief.<\/p>\n

This week its members were among those handing out thermal flasks and muesli bars to residents. The army was brought in to distribute diesel to clinics running emergency generators and to help with repairs.<\/p>\n

When Berlin\u2019s energy and economy senator, Franziska Giffey, turned up on Monday to see the fallout for herself, she could hardly hide her embarrassment. She said the attack was a \u201cserious blow to critical infrastructure\u201d, describing how the perpetrators had set fire to a bridge carrying high-voltage cables and had probably used public maps to select their location.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can find a lot of information on the internet,\u201d Giffey admitted in an interview with the broadcaster DLF, saying policymakers needed to prioritise security over transparency in future.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s mayor, Kai Wegner, visited a sports hall housing residents on army camp beds. Photograph: Axel Schmidt\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Manuel Atug, a founder of AG Kritis, an independent working group of experts on critical infrastructure, said his organisation had repeatedly warned of shortfalls in the system, of a lack of planning to ensure that networks \u2013 be they electricity, water or cyber \u2013 were backed up so that they could not fail due to one event such as an arson attack. Glaring also is the failure of lawmakers to put pressure on utility companies and network operators.<\/p>\n

\u201cResilience costs money,\u201d Atug said. \u201cCompanies only do what they\u2019re legally required to do.\u201d Politicians were keener to do things that were visibly striking, such as \u201cbuilding drone defence centres\u201d, rather than implementing more mundane measures such as protecting energy networks or fixing dilapidated bridges<\/a> or school buildings, he told Der Spiegel.<\/p>\n

The far-right populist Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland has been keen to exploit the situation, accusing the country\u2019s leadership of failing to keep its citizens warm and safe, and turning out this week to give away blankets. In a statement, the party\u2019s deputy federal spokesperson, Kay Gottschalk, said the government had failed to develop \u201cany sort of consistent political and security-related response\u201d to sabotage or arson attacks. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer an abstract warning we face, but a bitter reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Camp beds set up at an emergency dormitory in Zehlendorf town hall. Photograph: Lisi Niesner\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Across Berlin there has been an outpouring of goodwill towards those who lost power. Hotels and private individuals, as well as libraries, swimming pools, cinemas and museums, have opened their doors.<\/p>\n

Zehlendorf is known as a well-heeled part of Berlin, home to ambassadors, pop stars and business leaders, as well as ordinary Germans. Vulkangruppe apologised to people such as the Peters \u2013 a retired nurse and caretaker in their 70s \u2013 who have had to stay with friends for days. But Silke gave this short shrift, saying: \u201cTell that to the elderly who were stuck in their lifts when the black out happened, or our neighbour whose cat ran away and has yet to return.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Peters hope to be able to return to their flat on Wednesday. When they do, Silke will be in on a secret her husband had kept.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turns out he\u2019d been doing his own prepping,\u201d she said, referring to supplies of tinned fish and a large canister of drinking water he had put in the cellar, unbeknown to her. \u201cEveryone in Germany is doing it these days. And why wouldn\u2019t you? The difference to just a short while ago is that most readily admit it now without fear of ridicule.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Silke Peters bought a crank radio and a camping stove just after the start of Russia\u2019s full…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":499576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[50,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-499575","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115855424549405245","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}