When the Lights Go Out
Power outage paralyzes Berlin’s sensitive southwest. Diplomatic and intelligence facilities also affected
A large-scale power outage has affected wide parts of southwest Berlin since Saturday morning (3 January 2026). In Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde, thousands of households are without electricity. Retirement homes, hospitals, schools, supermarkets and other public facilities are affected. Police, fire services, civil protection units and the German Armed Forces are operating continuously to maintain basic services and security.
What has so far received little public attention is that the blackout also affects an area hosting diplomatic missions, embassy residences and related infrastructure. Several embassies of small and medium-sized states, as well as satellite offices of larger missions, are located directly within the affected districts. As a result, not only civilian infrastructure but also state-sensitive facilities are impacted.
Southwest Berlin has been regarded as a special area for decades. As early as the Cold War, this quiet part of the city was a stronghold of covert intelligence offices, residences and cover addresses. Proximity to Western allies, a secluded villa-style urban layout and low public density made the area attractive for clandestine activities. This structural setup has hardly changed architecturally - and it continues to be used to this day.
In such an environment, a prolonged power outage noticeably alters the security situation. Technical security systems such as alarm systems, video surveillance, access controls and communication networks are highly dependent on stable power supply. Emergency power systems and batteries can bridge outages only for a limited time. If internet connectivity or mobile networks fail as well, even operational systems lose much of their effectiveness.
A Window Of Opportunity
Particularly critical are not the official embassy chancery buildings, but embassy residences, branch offices and logistical facilities. These are often located in residential areas, appear inconspicuous from the outside and have a lower level of permanent personnel presence. They are part of diplomatic infrastructure, yet structurally closer to private properties than to highly secured government buildings. Among other facilities, a major logistics center of the U.S. Embassy is located in the affected area.
The affected districts also host numerous international intelligence residencies and external offices. Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND), maintains a larger external facility in the area as well. Whether it was directly affected by the power outage remains unclear.
The blackout does not constitute an acute emergency, nor does it automatically imply a direct threat. However, it opens a window of opportunity. Observation, approach and surveillance become easier, while response times increase. This does not only affect diplomatic missions, but also potential intelligence-related sites whose existence is not publicly visible - and it also impacts conventional criminal activity.
Security authorities are aware of these dynamics. In such situations, measures typically include increased on-site presence, manual security procedures and the prioritisation of sensitive objects. Nevertheless, a structural weakness remains: technical systems can only be replaced to a limited extent in the short term. The longer the outage lasts, the more security depends on personnel physically present on site.
The blackout in southwest Berlin is suspected to be the result of an attack by a left-wing extremist group. Investigations are ongoing. The power outage illustrates how closely civilian supply systems, state functions and security-relevant interests are spatially intertwined. In an area of historical and ongoing importance for diplomacy and intelligence services, a large-scale power outage is not a marginal incident - but a security-relevant factor that must be assessed soberly.