Overview
- Up to 45,000 households and about 2,200 businesses in Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde lost electricity after a fire on a cable bridge near the Lichterfelde plant.
- Stromnetz Berlin says repairs to multiple high‑ and medium‑voltage lines require complex deep excavation in winter conditions, with full reconnection projected for Thursday, January 8.
- Roughly 7,000 households were reconnected by early Sunday and about 10,000 by later updates, while hospitals regained grid power after relying on generators.
- Berlin declared a Großschadenslage to mobilize resources, with Bundeswehr assistance under Amtshilfe, evacuations of care facilities, and warming centers and emergency points operated by Feuerwehr, THW and aid groups.
- Investigators are pursuing an arson and sabotage case, with officials citing placed incendiary devices under the cables, transport and communications disruptions continuing, and around 20 schools in the area ordered closed through midweek.