Berlin-Lichterfelde power-cable bridge — Vulkangruppe-claimed arson

What happened

Unknown perpetrators set fire to a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal at the Lichterfelde combined heat-and-power plant in southwest Berlin, destroying five 110kV high-voltage and ten 10kV medium-voltage cables feeding substations serving Dahlem, Schlachtensee, Lichterfelde, Nikolassee, Wannsee and Zehlendorf. The outage cut power (and, in freezing winter weather, heating) to more than 40,000 households and over 2,000 businesses — roughly 100,000 people — including hospitals, nursing homes, schools and daycare centres; mobile and internet infrastructure was also disrupted. Berlin's Senate declared a major-damage situation and requested Bundeswehr logistical assistance to fuel emergency generators. Power was not fully restored until 7 January, making it, per German reporting, the longest lasting power outage in the city since 1945. A letter of responsibility published on Indymedia by a group calling itself Vulkangruppe described the act as "oriented towards the common good" and a protest against fossil-fuel power generation; investigators considered it likely genuine, though the federal government stopped short of confirming the motive, and rival or disavowing letters muddied the claim. Mayor Kai Wegner called the attack terrorism; the case was transferred to the Federal Prosecutor General over suspected terrorist-organisation membership, and a €1 million reward was later offered for information leading to identification of the perpetrators.