Global warming, climate change, all these things are just a dream come true for politicians. I deal with evidence and not with frightening computer models because the seeker after truth does not put his faith in any consensus. The road to the truth is long and hard, but this is the road we must follow. People who describe the unprecedented comfort and ease of modern life as a climate disaster, in my opinion have no idea what a real problem is.
Berlin has long maintained strict environmental regulations under the Berlin Nature Conservation Act (Berliner Naturschutzgesetz), which generally prohibits the use of de-icing salts (Streusalz or Tausalz) and other chemical melting agents on sidewalks, stairs, pedestrian paths, and private properties. The primary reason is to protect urban trees, vegetation, soil, groundwater, and infrastructure from salt damage- salt is only allowed on certain major roads and specific high-traffic areas managed by the city sanitation service (BSR).
Berlin has long maintained strict environmental regulations under the Berlin Nature Conservation Act (Berliner Naturschutzgesetz), which generally prohibits the use of de-icing salts (Streusalz or Tausalz) and other chemical melting agents on sidewalks, stairs, pedestrian paths, and private properties.
The primary reason is to protect urban trees, vegetation, soil, groundwater, and infrastructure from salt damage- salt is only allowed on certain major roads and specific high-traffic areas managed by the city sanitation service (BSR).
Due to repeated snowfall, freezing rain, and persistent black ice since early January 2026, sidewalks and stairs across the city became extremely hazardous.
This led to a significant surge in slip-and-fall injuries:
Hospitals, including the Charité (a major university hospital) and specialized trauma centers like the BG Klinikum Unfallkrankenhaus, reported being overwhelmed.
Daily figures included 30–40+ patients per day at some facilities with injuries such as wrist fractures (distal radius), shoulder injuries, ankle fractures, hip/femoral neck fractures (especially in older people), head injuries, and in severe cases, risks of permanent damage like paralysis.
Emergency rooms faced long wait times, “full house” conditions, and extra staffing needs to handle the influx, with some accounts describing hundreds of cases overall amid the prolonged freeze.
A hospital spokeswoman has urged Berliners to attach spikes to their shoes and try “walking like penguins” to avoid falling in the treacherous conditions that have plagued the city for weeks.
Repeated snowfall and freezing rain have coated the open-air insane asylum known as Berlin in a thin sheet of slippery ice since the beginning of January. To spare plants, city environmental laws have long forbidden using salt on pedestrian paths and stairways, and so residents have been falling and injuring themselves at such high rates that emergency rooms have had trouble keeping up:
Berlin’s emergency rooms are working flat out due to the icy conditions. At the BG Accident Hospital in Berlin, staff are “close to the limit,” press spokeswoman Angela Kijewski told Apollo News. On Thursday alone, there were 100 injuries due to slippery sidewalks and roads. These included bruises, broken bones and traumatic brain injuries. One patient has even suffered paraplegia.
As the press spokeswoman reported … in the last few days since the ice storm, staff have typically had to treat 50 to 70 patients a day who have been injured due to the slippery conditions. The hospital is responsible for work-related accidents and accidents on the way to work and is therefore prepared for large-scale emergencies – with the appropriate equipment and personnel. But even there, the slippery conditions are pushing them to their limits.
“Our surgeons are operating into the night,” Kijewski said …. Many of the patients require immediate surgery, while in other cases, fractures must first be immobilized with a cast and allowed to heal before further treatment can be given.
Kijewski urged Berliners to “attach spikes to their shoes for better grip,” because everybody has a few pairs of crampons just lying around, and she also amazingly suggested that residents try “walking like penguins” to avoid slipping.
This morning, Berlin’s hapless Governing Mayor, Kai Wegner, appealed to the House of Representatives “to allow the use of de-icing salt in exceptional cases” to “alleviate the dangerous situation.” After everybody had a good laugh at Wegner for his impotent social media appeals, the man discovered that he is actually in charge of the whole executive and that he can just do things:
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner has … commented in a press release: “The safety of Berliners is my top priority. That is why I have instructed the Senator for Transport today to issue a general ruling without delay, allowing private individuals and the VSR to use road salt on sidewalks to remove the ice cover.” Wegner further emphasized that he was aware that this decision was “associated with legal uncertainties.” Nevertheless, he considered it appropriate due to the “special situation.” “There is still a need for the fastest possible legal regulation to create legal certainty for the future. We will continue to discuss this in the coalition in the near future.”
Of course, Wegner could’ve waived these retarded rules weeks ago before all those elderly people ended up with grievous injuries in overflowing emergency rooms. At least the harm to Berlin’s trees has been minimised, I guess.
This article originally appeared on Eugyppius’s Substack newsletter. You can subscribe here.
Green activists who sabotaged the Berlin grid last week may not have convinced anyone that carbon dioxide was a threat, but they have raised awareness that Germany needs more diesel generators, and thermal power plants.
Green activists who sabotaged the Berlin grid last week may not have convinced anyone that carbon dioxide was a threat, but they have raised awareness that Germany needs more diesel generators, and thermal power plants.
On January 3rd, left-wing extremists caused the longest blackout in Berlin since World War II, leaving 100,000 people without heating or electricity for up to five days in midwinter. Suddenly local utilities have realized how vulnerable Germany is and are calling for a “national crisis reserve of mobile generators and heating systems.” And they want several hundred megawatts of it.
The association of local utilities (VKU) put out a press release calling for this new emergency reserve to be set up and spread around the country so it can restore power within 24 hours. They also ask for someone to clear away the bureaucratic red tape that slowed down the helpers, specifically mentioning the odd thing that must have delayed the response this time — like “responsibility, permits, liability, costs, labor rules, and insurance.”
They paid homage to the “decentralized energy supply base on renewables” which could have (but didn’t) mitigate the damage. They probably had to write that. They also want to add in “grid meshing” or more interconnectors –presumably to make it harder for vandals to knock out one key line. But it will be “expensive” they say (isn’t it always). It’s just another bucket of money needed to be added to the renewable’s bills.
Germany’s municipal utilities are calling for a national crisis reserve of mobile generators and heating systems. These should be dispatched in an emergency to restore the electricity supply within 24 hours, argued industry lobby group VKU.
The VKU said the emergency reserve would enable the creation of temporary “island electricity grids” independent from the main supply system. These could be run by emergency power generators, which mostly run on diesel, combined heat and power plants, and gas turbines that could be activated with “a single phone call.” The association stated that this emergency reserve should have a combined capacity of several hundred megawatts.
In other lessons from Germany, Prof Vahrenholt points out that converting everyone on gas or petrol to electricity only makes a blackout so much worse and the nation more vulnerable.
Frontier Economics estimates the total cost of the energy transition until 2045 at an unaffordable 4,800 to 5,400 billion euros.
But now, the attack in Berlin demonstrates to us that such an energy system, based solely on electricity, is highly vulnerable. We are learning that when the power fails, the heat supply also fails — at least when it is supposed to be generated by heat pumps. And to make matters worse, we are learning that in freezing temperatures, heat pumps face total loss due to bursting pipes. This particular “warning label” was certainly not included in the “Habeck heating law,” which the CDU-SPD federal government intends to continue seamlessly. The content of the law will remain the same, but to ensure citizens don’t quite realize it, the name of the law is to be changed.
We are also learning that during a large-scale power outage, electric vehicles can only help if they happened to be charged before the “bang.” Otherwise, this utility also fails.
Home batteries and electric cars won’t be much use if the terrorists attack just before they get recharged.
ADDENDUM: Let’s not forget their manifesto for grid sabotage:
“In the greed for energy, the earth is being depleted, sucked dry, burned, ravaged, burned down, raped, destroyed,” the group, which is listed by Berlin’s intelligence services as a left-wing extremist organization, said in the letter.
“The aim of the action is to cause significant damage to the gas industry and the greed for energy,” its authors wrote. The group has used similar means to communicate in the past, and Berlin police believed the letter to be genuine.
A Germany-wide power outage is not a light switch problem – but the moment when the physical limits of green energy policy become ruthlessly visible
Who does not remember the promises? The energy transition should not only save the climate but also guarantee security of supply. Wind, sun and batteries – the holy triumvirate of the green future. Decentralized, democratic, digital. What is often concealed is that in the event of a nationwide blackout, this future system will turn into a pile of expensive electronics that do not produce a single volt. Not because the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine – but because the physical foundations are missing to bring the grid back to life in the first place.
The current power outage in Berlin, which paralyzed about 50,000 households for four days, provides a taste of what is in store for Germany when the last conventional power plants are taken off the grid. And no, it’s not about scaremongering – it’s about physics.
The grid is not a power distributor, but a machine
First, let’s look at the technical reality of a blackout. The European power grid runs at a grid frequency of 50 hertz – a precisely synchronized machine in which all generators rotate in unison. After a total collapse, there is: no reference frequency, no voltage, no communication over the network. Everything has to be synchronized from scratch, step by step, like a house of cards that you build in absolute darkness.
This is not a “reboot” as you know it from the computer. It is the laborious reconstruction of a highly complex system, lasting several hours to several days, in which the slightest miscalculation leads to an immediate renewed shutdown.
Black Start: The Underrated Ability
Only a few power plants can start without an external power supply. According to the Federal Network Agency, there are 174 black-start capable turbines with a capacity of at least 10 MW (as of 2020) in Germany – sounds like a lot, but of these, only 26 are actually earmarked by the transmission system operators for grid reconstruction. This is the strategic reserve for an emergency.
The following are primarily:
Hydroelectric power plants
Some gas turbines (with battery support)
Few specially equipped power plants
On the other hand, the following are not eligible for black starts:
Nuclear power plants (irony of history: long since shut down)
Most coal-fired power plants (in the process of being shut down)
Wind and photovoltaic systems (grid-following)
Large battery storage systems (without upstream supply)
You read that right: The entire infrastructure of the energy transition is useless in the event of a blackout. Not restricted use. Useless.
Why is the reconstruction taking so long?
A large power plant needs between 5 and 10 percent of its nominal output as its own needs to start up – for pumps, lubrication, cooling, control and control technology. Without mains or black start source: standstill. And even when the first power plants are up and running, the real problem begins: the balance between generation and load must be exactly right. Too much burden? Frequency drop, shutdown. Too little load? Frequency surplus, shutdown.
That’s why consumers are being connected gradually: first critical infrastructure, then household’s region-by-region, industrial companies come to the very end. The net is built up like a fragile house of cards – one wrong move, and everything collapses again.
In addition, there are failed protection relays in substations that have to be reset manually. Cables must be tested for short circuits. Communication is now only via emergency power generators. Typical time frames for Germany-wide reconstruction: 24 to 72 hours – under ideal conditions. With consequential damage, much longer.
The problem of renewables: grid-following instead of grid-forming
Now it gets interesting. Almost all of today’s wind and photovoltaic plants are grid-following. They need an existing voltage and frequency to attach themselves to. After a blackout, the following applies: No grid, no feed-in. Even in bright sunshine and strong winds: 0 megawatts.
At this point, the argument regularly comes: “Then let’s just take battery storage as a buffer.” Nice theory. Practical reality: Batteries do not provide physical inertia. They stabilize the frequency only via control algorithms – highly sensitive to load jumps, highly software-dependent. Who sets the first cycle after a total failure? Who synchronizes thousands of inverters so that they do not regulate against each other? A bug, a communication failure, a misparameterization – and the chaos is perfect.
Grid-Forming Inverters: The Theoretical Solution Without Practical Proof
The answer of the energy transition engineers is: “Grid-forming inverters.” These are intended to digitally replicate the lack of network formation of synchronous generators. Sounds good. However, as of today, it only works in theory and in small pilot projects.
The problems:
Hardly tested on a large scale so far
No long-term experience for national networks
Extremely complex protection and coordination issues
Highly software-dependent
This is not a physical anchor like a rotating flywheel, but a digital replacement model. A software update can stabilize the system – or cause it to crash. Although the European grid codes discuss requirements for grid-forming functionalities, Germany is miles away from a comprehensive, tested implementation.
Fraunhofer ISE and other research institutions are diligently developing algorithms and testing prototypes. But there are worlds between a test setup and a nationwide system change – and years, if not decades.
Dark doldrums plus blackout: The worst-case scenario
Now imagine the following scenario: A cold January day, little wind, no sun, the storage facilities are already partially empty (because they had to support the supply in the days before). Then: blackout.
What happens? No feed-in from wind and solar. No inertia in the system. No safe reconstruction path.
In such a system, Germany would de facto be dependent on neighboring countries – French nuclear power plants, Scandinavian hydropower, Polish coal – to “pull” voltage and frequency into the German grid and enable a new start. Energy sovereignty? Not given. Green independence ends where physics begins.
What politicians conceal
The Federal Network Agency classifies the risk of a long-lasting power outage in Germany as “very unlikely”. This may be statistically correct – Germany has one of the most reliable power grids in the world with an average of 11 minutes of outage per year. But this statistic applies to today’s system of conventional baseload power plants that serve as anchors.
What happens when these anchors disappear? When the last coal-fired power plants are taken off the grid and replaced by software-controlled inverters? Will the grid become more stable – or more vulnerable?
Herbert Saurugg, Austrian blackout expert, has been warning for years: “Just because you can start a power plant illegally does not mean that you can also manage grid reconstruction.” And further: The smaller the turbines, the more difficult and lengthy the start-up.
A 100% RE system would have, in the event of a nationwide blackout:
No robust black start capability
No physical mesh formation
High software and coordination risks
Extreme dependence on weather and foreign countries
Significantly longer reconstruction times than today
In extreme cases, the network could no longer be safely started up independently.
Berlin as a portent?
The current power outage in Berlin – caused by a fire at a cable bridge – is an example of how fragile even well-developed urban grids are. It took four days for all 45,000 households to have electricity again. Four days of cold, four days without functioning heaters, without hot water, without light. According to the network operator, the complete repair will take weeks or months.
And that was only a regionally limited outage with a functioning environment that could help. What would happen in the event of a Germany-wide blackout? Who will help then?
Conclusion: Physics beats ideology
A Germany-wide blackout does not last long because German engineers are incompetent. It takes a long time because the power grid is a high-precision, synchronously running machine – and you can’t start machines cold at the same time.
The energy transition ignores this reality. It replaces rotating masses with algorithms, physical inertia with virtual inertial systems, proven black start capability with theoretical concepts. And hopes that everything will work in an emergency.
This is not energy policy – this is Russian roulette with the security of supply of an industrialized country.
The inconvenient truth is that a power grid needs inertia, synchronicity and startability. These are characteristics of rotating machines, not inverters. As long as this basic truth is not accepted, the energy transition will remain an expensive experiment at the expense of security of supply.
The next blackout is sure to come. The only question is: How long will it take for the light to come back on?
Fritz Vahrenholt, a German chemist, former SPD politician published an article in early January 2026 titled “Eine grundsätzliche Lehre aus dem Terroranschlag auf das Berliner Stromnetz” (translated: “A Fundamental Lesson from the Terrorist Attack on the Berlin Power Grid”).
His Monthly newsletter refers to the arson attack on January 3, 2026, on high-voltage cables in southwest Berlin, claimed by the far-left extremist group Vulkangruppe. This sabotage caused a multi-day blackout affecting tens of thousands of households, businesses, hospitals, and public transport. German authorities investigated it as a terrorist act.
Fritz Vahrenholt, a German chemist, former SPD politician published an article in early January 2026 titled “Eine grundsätzliche Lehre aus dem Terroranschlag auf das Berliner Stromnetz” (translated: “A Fundamental Lesson from the Terrorist Attack on the Berlin Power Grid”).
His Monthly newsletter refers to the arson attack on January 3, 2026, on high-voltage cables in southwest Berlin, claimed by the far-left extremist group Vulkangruppe.
This sabotage caused a multi-day blackout affecting tens of thousands of households, businesses, hospitals, and public transport. German authorities investigated it as a terrorist act.
the global temperature continued to decline significantly in December 2025. It is only 0.3 degrees Celsius higher than the long-term average. Overall, 2025 was significantly cooler than 2024. The cooling trend continues.
A fundamental lesson from the terrorist attack on the Berlin power grid
The shutdown of the electricity supply in the south of Berlin has made us aware of the fragility of the policy of the energy transition. The aim of the energy transition is not only to convert the electricity supply to wind and solar energy, but also to convert the other two pillars of the energy supply, namely the heat supply and the transport sector, to electricity. Everything on electricity means doing without gas and oil in the heating sector and oil (petrol/diesel) in the motor vehicle sector.
Sector coupling was the name given to this narrowing of the energy supply to one energy source. This sector coupling was disseminated and celebrated by the green high priests as a sustainable model for the future. In its origin, it was an attempt to correct the weakness of renewable energies, which lead to unusable surpluses in times of high wind and solar power. These useless surpluses were to be pushed into the heating sector and the motor vehicle sector after storage. The fact that this sector coupling leads to an exorbitant increase in costs has been described often enough here. Frontier economics estimates the total cost of the energy transition by 2045 at an unaffordable 4800 to 5400 billion euros.
But now the attack in Berlin shows us that such an energy system, based solely on electricity, is highly vulnerable. We learn that in the event of a power failure, the heat supply also fails, at least if it is to be generated by heat pumps. And to make matters worse, we learn that in sub-zero temperatures, heat pumps are threatened with total loss due to bursting pipes. In any case, this package insert has not yet existed with Habeck’s heating law, which the black-red federal government wants to continue seamlessly. The content of the law will remain the same, but so that the citizens do not really notice it, the name of the law is to be changed.
We also learn that in the event of a large-scale power outage, e-vehicles can only help if they happen to have been charged before the bang. Otherwise, this use will also be cancelled. Until now, there has been a great deal of resilience associated with being able to rely on two storable systems for 75% of the energy supply, namely the gas supply for heat and the fuel supply for mobility. The fact that the third pillar, the electricity supply, which has so far provided 25% of energy consumption, is now also being made weather-dependent and is then supposed to serve all three pillars, has turned out even more clearly since the Berlin events to be a left-green ideological pipe dream that will not survive the reality test. The text of the first claim of responsibility makes use of the context of the justification of green and left-wing ideologies of climate anxiety:
“In the greed for energy, the earth is drained, sucked dry, burned, maltreated, burned down, raped, destroyed. Entire regions are made uninhabitable under the heat. They simply burn. Or habitats disappear under the floods during floods or due to rising sea levels. Shutting down fossil fuel power plants is manual work.”
Except for the last sentence, one could read similar formulations in party congress resolutions of the Greens, the Left and the SPD. The sentence “Entire regions become uninhabitable under the heat” even comes from a UN report from 2022. The ideological justification for the energy transition stems from the same context of climate alarmism that the Vulkangruppe uses to justify its criminal actions.
On our own behalf
This newsletter is shorter, because I would like to spare myself the intensive research that you are used to so far, in this and the next newsletters. I have started to write a book, together with Björn Peters, about the future of nuclear energy. The book will be published by Langen-Müller in autumn and requires intensive research. That’s why I have to cut back on the newsletter, which has always cost me 4-5 working days, for two or three months. I hope you understand.
On January 3, 2026, a fire damaged high-voltage cables on a bridge over the Teltow Canal near the Lichterfelde power plant, causing a massive blackout affecting approximately 45,000–50,000 households and over 2,200 businesses in districts including Lichterfelde, Zehlendorf, Nikolassee, and Wannsee.
On January 3, 2026, a fire damaged high-voltage cables on a bridge over the Teltow Canal near the Lichterfelde power plant, causing a massive blackout affecting approximately 45,000–50,000 households and over 2,200 businesses in districts including Lichterfelde, Zehlendorf, Nikolassee, and Wannsee.
Berlin police investigate the incident as arson, with a confession letter attributed to left-wing extremists (possibly the “Vulkangruppe”) deemed authentic in security circles. Berlin’s governing mayor, Kai Wegner, described the perpetrators as “evidently left-wing extremists.” This echoes a similar suspected arson attack in September 2025 that disrupted power in southeast Berlin.
Temperatures below freezing and persistent snowfall make the #Stromausfall in #Berlin particularly dangerous. NIUS interviewed passersby and people in the emergency shelters.
Temperaturen unter dem Gefrierpunkt und anhaltender Schneefall machen den #Stromausfall in #Berlin besonders gefährlich. NIUS befragte Passanten und Menschen in den Notunterkünften. pic.twitter.com/REjW2cSCe9
Many residents lack electricity, heating, and hot water amid freezing temperatures and snow.
Authorities evacuated care homes and hospitals partially.
Emergency shelters opened, and police advise residents to stay with relatives, conserve phone battery, and use flashlights.
Power restored to about 7,000–10,000 households via rerouting; full restoration for the majority may take until January 8 due to extensive cable damage and weather challenges.
Berlin declared a major emergency, with the Bundeswehr considering support.
Power outage in Berlin: 45,000 households without electricity – police investigate arson
In the southwest of Berlin, there was a large-scale power outage on Saturday, and the consequences also affected nursing homes. According to Stromnetz Berlin, around 45,000 households and about 2,000 commercial enterprises were affected. At the same time, emergency services secured the supply of critical places. The police are investigating arson as the cause (welt: 03.01.26).
Cause at the Teltow Canal
According to the company, the trigger was the fire of a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal, which damaged several lines to the nearby Lichterfelde power plant. The fire has now been extinguished, but the repair remains complex because several cable harnesses are affected and the network topology cannot be changed at will. Company spokesman Henrik Beuster named the affected districts Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde, and thus an area with many residential quarters as well as important facilities.
The fire brigade also prepared for a longer scenario early on because the situation remained dynamic and a reliable forecast was missing. She wrote online: “It is still unclear when the power supply will be restored. A longer absence is to be expected.” In addition, it said: “Stromnetz Berlin is working as quickly as possible to find a solution to the problem. At the moment, it is not foreseeable how quickly it can be fixed. At the moment, it must be assumed that the power outage will last longer.”
Safety in the cold: Fire brigade warns and relies on simple measures
Because temperatures in the minus range create additional risks, the fire brigade advises clear precautionary measures, and they are targeting typical sources of danger in apartments. Literally, the advice reads: “Be careful when handling candles – do not leave them unattended. It’s better to use flashlights than candles! Do not use gas-powered heaters and disposable grills indoors. Warm yourself with sweaters and blankets.” In this way, it addresses not only fire hazards, but also the risk of exhaust fumes in enclosed spaces.
At the same time, the police warned that the power outage could also affect mobile communications and landlines. It therefore sent forces to the affected areas. Anyone who urgently needs help should contact emergency services directly or visit a station, because an emergency call in individual streets could temporarily fail. For residents, therefore, the following applies: keep calm, but remain prepared, and keep an eye on neighbors in case there are problems with the elderly or sick.
Large-scale operation in Steglitz-Zehlendorf and commemoration of attack in September
In the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, a large-scale operation was underway with several hundred firefighters and other helpers. In addition, volunteer fire brigades and the Federal Agency for Technical Relief were involved. The situation was particularly delicate because there are several nursing homes and hospitals in the area and emergency power and logistics have to be neatly intertwined. According to the fire department, residents and patients from at least two homes were transferred to other facilities.
At the same time, the case brings back memories of September, when a similar power outage in southeastern Berlin lasted for days. At that time, Stromnetz Berlin initially also spoke of around 50,000 affected customers. At the time, the cause was considered to be a politically motivated arson attack on two electricity pylons. This time, too, the police are investigating a possible deliberate fire. It is precisely this suspicion that increases the sensitivity, because the critical infrastructure is increasingly in focus.
Left-wing extremist attack on power supply and the failure of Wegner & Co
The left-wing extremist attack on Berlin’s power supply exposes serious failures of the Senate under Kai Wegner (CDU) and the federal government in the protection, prevention and crisis management of critical infrastructure. The late political reaction and the recourse to the Bundeswehr seem less like resolute leadership than an admission of a lack of preparation and a failed security policy strategy.
At the weekend, Berlin was shaken by a massive power outage in the southwest of the city – triggered by an apparently targeted arson attack on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal. Several high-voltage power lines were destroyed, around 45,000 to 50,000 households and over 2,000 businesses were left in the dark, many without electricity and at times without functioning heating systems in freezing temperatures – a situation reminiscent of infrastructure emergencies, not a well-organized, safe capital city center.
The perpetrator group “Vulkangruppe”, a left-wing extremist group that has been active for years, claimed responsibility for the attack. In their claim of responsibility, they celebrate sabotage as a “necessary step” in the fight against the social system – regardless of the consequences for the elderly, children, hospitals and general security of supply.
Berlin’s Ahr Valley disaster: Wegner laughs
While the city sank into cold and darkness, the Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) initially seemed absent – at least in the public perception. According to reports, he did not show up in person on Saturday but stayed in his office and made calls. Only later was the deployment of the Bundeswehr announced. When he turned up laughing at the press conference at noon today, some journalists were a bit irritated by the laughing face he showed at the beginning. Memories of his colleague Laschet and the Ahr Valley disaster were raised.
Clearly, no one expects political leaders to attend every fire brigade operation themselves. But it is precisely in crisis situations – when people are directly affected and insecure – that the visibility of those in positions of responsibility is decisive for trust or mistrust in the state and politics. Wegner’s answers seemed more managed than led, more reaction than proactive crisis management.
The chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group, Dr. Kristin Brinker, is probably not entirely wrong when she remarks on the absence of Kai Wegner on the first day of the power outage in large parts of the southwest of Berlin:
! Another left-wing extremist terrorist attack against Berlin’s infrastructure with tens of thousands of people affected, but the supposedly ‘governing’ mayor is nowhere to be seen and the Senate only manages to convene a crisis team after more than 13 hours – a greater political failure is hardly conceivable.
It is inconceivable that Wegner is conspicuous by his absence during Berlin’s biggest infrastructure disaster since the Second World War. Instead of being there for the affected citizens on the spot, he apparently thinks he can sit out the situation in his home office or on vacation. This complete ignorance is fatally reminiscent of the failure of political decision-makers during the Ahr disaster Wegner has now disqualified himself as the father of the country at the latest.”
Not only a left-wing extremist, but also a structural problem
The decision to call in the Bundeswehr for support is currently being sold as pragmatic aid – especially to ensure the supply of the population with hot food, drinks and warmth.
But this step should rather be understood as a political alarm signal: If the civilian authorities and operational structures are no longer sufficient to protect a large city in one of Europe’s most important industrial countries, then this is not only an operational test – but a symptomatic failure of state precaution and planning. Bundeswehr support must not become a substitute solution because precautionary infrastructure security and rapid, effective crisis responses are insufficiently organized.
The energy policy spokesman of the AfD parliamentary group, Frank-Christian Hansel (here on the outside – in conversation with the Islam critic Irfan Peci, among others), reacted very quickly to the power outage and presented the completely neglected structural problem, which is particularly severe in Berlin:
“The massive power outage in Lichtfelde, Nikolassee, Wannsee and Zehlendorf is a serious warning signal for the state of Berlin’s energy infrastructure (…) The failure of a single network node was enough to paralyze the power supply and in some cases the entire telecommunications infrastructure over a large area. This makes a central network node problem visible. Critical distribution points are apparently poorly dimensioned and interconnected, so that faults do not remain localized, but cascade entire supply rooms. The redundancy and grid resilience that are often invoked simply does not prove to be given under real conditions.
Security of supply is not an ideological question, but a basic prerequisite for security, the economy and social stability. Today’s incident shows that Berlin needs an honest assessment of its grid node structure and an energy policy that consistently focuses on grid stability and reliability again. The energy supply brought about by the so-called climate policy, sewn on edge, is dangerous to the public.”
Wrong security policy
The question arises: How could it have come to this in the first place? Left-wing extremist acts of sabotage on critical infrastructure are not new – there have been repeated incidents in Berlin in recent years in which electricity, rail or communication networks have been attacked.
Despite repeated warnings, it seems that security and domestic policy has not taken these developments seriously enough for a long time. The expected early detection, prevention and protection of sensitive infrastructure remained – so the impression – a bureaucratic buzzword instead of a strategic obligatory programme. This spectrum also includes the fact that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the old parties have been trivializing the threat posed by left-wing extremism as well as Islamization for many years. And instead pay the greatest attention to a largely invented problem of right-wing extremism.
While Berlin struggled with the acute state of emergency, the German government remained conspicuously quiet about structural consequences. Crisis areas in critical infrastructure – from the power grid to digital networking – are not only a state but also a federal task. A national protection plan is needed that takes sabotage, terrorism, extremism and hybrid threats seriously. Instead, we are experiencing reactive politics that only get moving when tens of thousands of people are already affected. And which does not indicate that it intends to fight the real enemies of our democracy, freedom and security, but only to defend its “fleshpots” (Söder) against the strongest opposition party – whatever the cost. After all, the others have to freeze.
Just 12 car trips person per year would be allowed!
The Berlin Constitutional Court has declared the “Berlin car-free” referendum admissible, paving the way for a possible drastic reduction in car traffic.
Just 12 car trips person per year would be allowed!
The Berlin Constitutional Court has declared the “Berlin car-free” referendum admissible, paving the way for a possible drastic reduction in car traffic.
Cars may soon be banned in Berlin. Image generated by Grok 3 AI
The court found that the aim of promoting health and climate protection is a legitimate legislative objective and that the draft does not violate fundamental rights.
There is no constitutional right to individual road use.
The initiative aims for a car-free Berlin center in which private car trips would be limited to just twelve per person per year. Exceptions would be for police, emergency services and people with mobility impairments. Delivery traffic and special cases such as services would be able to be approved digitally. The proponents argue that the aim is not to replace combustion engines with electric cars, but to reduce the total number of vehicles around the city center.
“We have won, right down the line: the future of Berlin belongs to safety, climate protection and the health of all Berliners – and not to unrestrained car traffic,” said the Volksentscheid Berlin autofrei (Referendum Berlin car-free) in a statement.
170,000 signatures needed for a referendum
Next, the initiative must collect 170,000 signatures within four months in order to bring about a binding referendum.
The initiative, however, faces opposition from various groups. Business associations, such as the Association of Business Associations in Berlin and Brandenburg (UVB), have warned that a widespread car ban would be a severe blow to the economy in the capital region. They fear reduced customer access, especially for businesses that rely on delivery services or customers traveling by car.
There are also concerns that restricting car use would interfere with property rights, as car owners within the affected zone would be limited in how they could use their vehicles near their homes. Many residents and businesses rely on cars for their daily commutes, deliveries, and other activities. The proposed restrictions, allowing only 12 private car trips per person per year within the city’s S-Bahn ring.
Critics also point to the current state of public transport infrastructure, expressing concerns about “significant bottlenecks” and overcrowding if a large number of car users switch to public transport. While Berlin has an extensive public transport network, it probably isn’t robust enough to handle such a massive shift.
The current conservative-led Senate under Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has actively opposed traffic reduction policies, campaigning against bicycle lane expansion, speed limits, and parking reductions. Residents should be able to choose their mode of transport, including cars.
While the court has deemed the initiative legally permissible, there remains a number of hurdles, including a potential referendum. Past experiences with referendums in Berlin show that implementation can be challenging due to political resistance.
There are also questions about how the 12-trip limit per person would be enforced, raising concerns about bureaucracy and data privacy.
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