An exceptional situation that hardly anyone had expected at the beginning of 2026: on Saturday, January 3, the fire on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal on the south-western outskirts of Berlin led to a large-scale, day-long power outage. Since Sunday, around 15,000 previously affected households and 300 commercial connections have been supplied with electricity again. The grid operator expects the remaining households to be fully restored by Thursday afternoon (January 8). Currently, around 35,000 households in the Nikolassee, Zehlendorf and Wannsee districts are still affected.
The consequences are devastating: Berlin’s Senator of the Interior Iris Spranger officially declared a major emergency on Sunday. Due to the wintry temperatures, emergency shelters were set up for people who were particularly affected and in need of help. In addition to the accommodation organized by the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district office and various aid organizations,several hotels have also made their free rooms available. These include the small Hotel Curt Suites in Berlin-Mitte, which is offering remaining free rooms free of charge to people affected by the power cut who currently have no alternative accommodation. The rooms have heating, hot water and offer enough space – even for families with two to three children.
The massive power outage has also had an impact on school operations: In many schools and daycare centers, the start of school today was canceled and almost all educational institutions remained closed. Regular lessons are due to resume on Wednesday (January 7). In the meantime, substitute care is being organized at selected alternative school locations. It is clear that the consequences of the power outage will be felt for days to come – and at the coldest time of year of all times. For politicians and security authorities, it is now clear that the cable bridge fire was a suspected politically motivated attack from the left-wing extremist spectrum. The investigation is ongoing. The city has also set up warming stations where those affected can stay, charge their cell phones and get hot drinks. At the same time, the police have announced increased patrols in the affected areas, some of which are dark. Around 300 additional police officers are currently on duty.