Tens of thousands of people in Berlin are affected by a power outage. This was triggered on purpose.
Jan 4, 2026, 7:43 amJan 4, 2026, 7:43 am
Claudia Zehrfeld / t-online
A major power outage cut off numerous households in southwest Berlin from their energy supply on Saturday. The police assume sabotage.
The State Security Office of the Berlin State Criminal Police Office has received a corresponding letter of confession, as the police announced on Platform X on Saturday afternoon. “Our colleagues are currently checking the authenticity of this letter,” it said.
A left-wing extremist group has now claimed responsibility for the attack, as the RBB medium reports. The police had increased patrols at night and set up light poles.
Power outage in Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee, Lichterfelde
The power went out early Saturday morning in the districts of Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde. According to the Berlin power grid, 45,400 households and 2,200 commercial businesses were affected. The cause was a fire in a house to which a cable bridge with power lines led from the Lichterfelde power plant.
The power outage was intentional.Image: keystone
The fire damaged several high-voltage cables. The house was presumably set on fire; Forensic investigators continued to investigate on Saturday. Meanwhile, Stromnetz Berlin announced that the power supply for Lichterfelde is expected to be restored by late Saturday evening. The other affected districts would have to be patient until Thursday afternoon.
Major power outage as early as September 2025
There was already a major power outage in Berlin in September of last year, at that time in Treptow-Köpenick. It was the result of a targeted arson attack on power cables that were also laid above ground by left-wing extremists who published a long letter of responsibility on the Internet. The police classified this as authentic.