Large areas of Berlin’s Southwest were left without electricity for several days in sub-zero temperatures after an attack claimed by hard-left group Antifa on an important power line.
In the early hours of January 2 unknown perpetrators had set a fire to a cable bridge crossing the Teltow canal on the German capital’s southern border.
The fire destroyed five high-voltage lines and left 45,000 households and 2,200 companies without electricity in cold winter weather, with overnight temperatures dipping below -5°C.
The power outage led to police cars cruising dark streets urging people by loudspeaker to keep flashlights and batteries at hand for the nighttime hours.
Public buildings opened to shelter elderly and handicapped people whose homes had become too cold for them to remain there. Schools and kindergartens in the affected area remained closed on Monday.
On January 4 and 5 around a third of the affected customers could be linked up again with the network, said electricity providers.
However, 30,000 households will have to wait at least until Thursday, January 8 for the return of their power – owing to the extent of the damages to the network.
Was wäre in Deutschland los, wenn nicht – davon muss man ausgehen – Linksextremisten, sondern Rechtsextremisten einen Anschlag auf die Stromversorgung verübt hätten, der 45.000 Haushalte, Altenheime und 4 Krankenhäuser von der Stromversorgung abschneidet – und das mitten im… pic.twitter.com/7dm6uCBcoF
— Guntram Proß (@GuntramPross) January 3, 2026
Berlin’s Councillor for Economics, Franziska Giffey (Social Democrats), said “We have an acute very, very big damage.” She added the assailants had placed incendiary devices directly under the power lines.
The repairs will reportedly take days as experts need to excavate a fourteen-metre-long deep ditch and must wait for temperatures to rise above freezing to carry out the works.
On January 4 it emerged the attack had likely been carried out by Germany’s militant hard-left, commonly referred to as Antifa.
A speaker for the Berlin police said a letter claiming responsibility signed by the so-called Vulkangruppe (“volcano group”) was most probably genuine.
In their letter the group claimed their attack was “an act of self-defence and international solidarity with all those who protect the earth and life”.
Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner (Christian Democrats, CDU) said “With this attack, suspected left-wing extremists knowingly put human lives at risk, especially those of patients in hospitals, the elderly, children, and families. […] We will investigate the perpetrators thoroughly and with maximum pressure.”
Germany has a long history of attacks by the hard-Left on critical infrastructure such as power lines and high-speed rail.
In recent months Antifa groups have also burned a castle belonging to a “right-wing” noblewoman, the car of a right-wing politician and dozens of Amazon delivery vans.
