SHOTLIST:

BERLIN, GERMANY (JAN. 8, 2026) (ANADOLU — ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (German) ONE OF BERLIN CITIZENS JORG DIGOLD SAYING:

"I had to come to terms with the situation for three or four days. While the emergency responders were excellent, the politicians failed us completely. They were unreachable—not even offering a word of comfort. The fact that the elderly were not evacuated is particularly hard to accept.

Personally, I can survive this; I am resilient and always somewhat prepared. But for a 90-year-old, it is a different story. Many are ill and depend on electricity for medical devices—it’s a life-or-death situation.

While the outage itself wasn't excessively long, it exposed the problem with our centralized power grid. This should be a wake-up call to install decentralized emergency generators in local districts to prevent this from happening again.

Even local businesses were left behind. A shop owner here had to pay 15,000 euros out of his own pocket for equipment because the authorities provided no help or subsidies. It is the same lack of support we saw after the floods in central Germany; to this day, the financing issues remain unresolved."

2. (SOUNDBITE) (German) ONE OF BERLIN CITIZENS CHRISTIAN MATTHAY SAYING:

"Overall, I am deeply surprised by how poorly prepared Berlin is. For 20 years, we have discussed how Germany’s infrastructure remains inadequately protected and increasingly vulnerable. Yet even today, it is possible to bring half of Berlin to a standstill with relatively little effort.

When I think back to the last major power outage we experienced six months ago—which particularly impacted hospitals—I can’t help but wonder what was actually learned. Perhaps this incident will finally serve as a wake-up call; otherwise, I believe that at some point, people will take to the streets."

3. (SOUNDBITE) (German) ONE OF BERLIN CITIZENS GISELA SAYING:

"Neighbors came to my home to warm up and charge their phones. While I didn't experience the worst of the outage personally, it was unsettling to see how quickly a crisis can strike so close to home. It made me realize just how unprotected we truly are when our essential systems fail."

4. (SOUNDBITE) (German) ONE OF BERLIN CITIZENS BERND HUBER SAYING:

"The solidarity among neighbors was fantastic, and in my opinion, all the professionals involved did a great job. However, this is a major issue for our politicians because it has become clear how poorly funded our disaster protection is.

The Senate plans to spend approximately 300 million euros on a subway extension that might carry only six additional passengers per train, which makes no sense. It is poorly financed and even treated as 'special funding,' which is absurd. That money should be invested in disaster response and civil protection instead.

This crisis has clearly shown that for decades, there has been far too little investment in preparedness, security, and disaster protection. That must change now. I want to emphasize that priorities need to be shifted; if a special fund is created, it is completely misguided for the Berlin Senate to prioritize a subway extension. That money urgently needs to go toward what really matters." BERLIN, GERMANY — JAN. 8, 2026: A multi-day power outage that left swaths of the German capital without electricity or heat has sparked a wave of public criticism, with residents accusing city authorities of leaving Berlin dangerously vulnerable to infrastructure failure.

As temperatures hovered near freezing, the silence of darkened neighborhoods was replaced by the voices of frustrated citizens demanding accountability and a shift in municipal priorities.

For many, the disruption was not just an inconvenience but a symptom of long-term neglect.

"Overall, I am deeply surprised by how poorly prepared Berlin is," said resident Christian Matthay. "We’ve been talking for 20 years about how Germany’s infrastructure is still not properly protected and is becoming increasingly vulnerable." Matthay warned that the public's patience is wearing thin, suggesting that citizens will likely "take to the streets" if concrete precautions are not taken to secure the grid.

Another resident, Jorg Digold, echoed these sentiments, expressing hope that the freezing nights would serve as a "wake-up call" for the government to invest in backup generators to prevent a recurrence.

The outage has also refocused the debate on the city's budget. Bernd Huber questioned the city’s plan to allocate approximately 300 million euros (about $327 million) toward a subway extension while basic civil protection remains fragile.

"That money urgently needs to go toward what really matters," Huber said.

Following the Jan. 3 sabotage of electricity cables in Berlin, around 100,000 people in the city’s southwest experienced one of the longest power outages since World War II, leaving residents without electricity and heating for days during winter.

Around 45,000 households and more than 2,000 businesses were affected, with up to 100,000 residents impacted at the peak of the outage.

According to The Financial Times, the outage exposed structural weaknesses in Germany’s energy and infrastructure security, reviving long-running debates about underinvestment in resilience.

By the fifth day after the attack, electricity provider Stromnetz Berlin said power had been fully restored to all affected subscribers.

During the outage, an 83-year-old woman was found dead in her home. Police said it remains unclear whether her death was caused by a fall or underlying health issues, and an autopsy has been ordered.