Berlin, one of Europe’s most advanced and densely populated capitals, was thrown into an unprecedented crisis after suffering its worst power blackout since World War II. For nearly two full days, large parts of the city were left without electricity following an arson attack on high-voltage power cables. The outage affected around 45,000 households and more than a thousand businesses at a time when temperatures in the German capital were well below freezing, sharply exposing the city’s vulnerability to targeted infrastructure attacks.
The scale and duration of the blackout stunned both residents and authorities, as prolonged power failures of this nature are rare in major European cities. What initially appeared to be a serious infrastructure failure soon escalated into a national security concern. Federal prosecutors in Berlin launched a terrorism investigation after a far-left extremist group, Vulkangruppe, claimed responsibility for deliberately setting fire to the cables.
German authorities confirmed that the incident is being investigated on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organisation, sabotage, arson, and disruption of essential public services. The outage began on Saturday, but electricity across affected neighbourhoods was only fully restored by Thursday, making it the longest blackout the city has experienced since the Second World War.
The situation became severe enough that the German government deployed the army to assist residents struggling with the cold and lack of basic services, according to reports by DW. Civic authorities, emergency services, and charitable organisations worked together to mitigate the impact, setting up temporary warm shelters in hotels, schools, and sports centres to protect vulnerable residents.
The harsh winter conditions significantly worsened the crisis. On Thursday, temperatures in Berlin dropped to minus nine degrees Celsius, while average temperatures during the outage hovered around minus two degrees, with nighttime lows reaching as cold as minus eleven degrees. For many households without heating or hot water, the blackout quickly turned into a serious health concern.
Despite the restoration of power, the extent of the disruption remains striking. Approximately 45,000 homes and 1,120 businesses were left without electricity for nearly 48 hours, severely affecting daily life, commercial activity, and essential services. Public swimming pools were kept open around the clock to allow residents access to warm showers, while city buses were repurposed as mobile warming stations for those unable to heat their homes.
Berlin’s civic administration also announced emergency financial support measures, stating that hotel accommodation costs for affected residents would be covered by the city, with expenses capped at officially approved rates. While normalcy has now largely returned, the incident has raised serious questions about infrastructure security, emergency preparedness, and the growing threat of politically motivated sabotage in one of Europe’s most prominent capitals.
