Civil society action and operational disaster management: the Berlin power outage in January 2026

On Saturday, the third of January 2026, a massive power outage occurred in the south-west of Berlin. Large parts of the localities Nikolassee, Wannsee, Zehlendorf and Lichterfelde in the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf were without power for over four and a half days in winter weather conditions. This blog post presents the results of a quick-response research conducted in the affected areas during the power outage. Our focus was on the actions taken by civil society. We classify these actions using the DRC typology and assess the situation from a disaster sociology perspective.

By Nicolas Bock (DRU), Cordula Dittmer (AKFS) & Peter Windsheimer-Kolla (DRU)

10. April, 2026

http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-52004

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