By Silvia Meixner and Ewald König

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Although the southwest of Berlin is home to several embassies and many residences, the diplomats seem lucky in misfortune. They are only slightly affected by the power outage resulting from the attack.

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On Monday afternoon, around 100,000 people in 30,000 households in Berlin were still suffering from the effects of an attack on the city's power supply, allegedly carried out by the extreme left-wing “Vulkangruppe” (Volcano Group). Those affected are people from Steglitz-Zehlendorf in the south-west of the city – where many diplomats also work and live.

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Not back from winter vacation yet

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The Embassy of Yemen is one of the diplomatic missions located in the area without electricity. Ambassador Loai Al-Eryani tells diplo.news: “We had no electricity or Internet access for a few hours on the first day of the power outage. Fortunately, everything worked again after a while.” The Yemeni embassy is located on Schmidt-Ott-Straße. He has not yet heard any reports of damage from colleagues. This may be because not all diplomats have returned from their winter vacations yet.

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No embassy staff have contacted the office of State Secretary Florian Hauer, who is responsible for all international affairs in the Berlin Senate Chancellery. “But we would not be responsible for this anyway,” they say.

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The Berlin police have also received no requests for help in recent days. The liaison office for diplomatic institutions of the Central Property Protection, which is responsible for the security of embassies and residences, even had a quiet weekend. “No embassies got in touch with us, no one apparently needed support,” said a spokesperson in response to a request from diplo.news. Like the citizens of Berlin, the diplomats apparently benefited from the increased police checks on the affected streets. In addition, in the event of an emergency such as this, there are no special arrangements for diplomats.

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Showering at friends' houses

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Well supplied at work, thick blankets and warm socks in the evening – that is the current situation of an employee at the Embassy of the Republic of Chad. The embassy building is located outside the areas affected by the power outage, but his private apartment has been without electricity for days. "I have been living in Germany for forty years, but I have never experienced anything like this. Power outages are very common in Africa, but unusual in Germany,“ he tells diplo.news. His children are at school during the day. They shower at friends' houses. ”During the day, I charge all the devices I can in the office," he says. Well equipped, he then returns to his dark and cold home in the evening.

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The flight home was also cancelled

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“Right before Berlin, I was stationed in an African developing country,” says an embassy counselor from an East Asian country. “We experienced similar outages there quite often.  But I didn't expect that here. It can happen for half a day, but for this long?”

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On Saturday, he and his family had tried to stay in their terraced house in Zehlendorf. "But it was impossible. We couldn't stay at home overnight, not even the dog!" So the family, including the dog, moved to a hotel in Steglitz and hopes that the insurance company will cover the costs. Since he doesn't pay taxes here as a diplomat, he doesn't believe that the city of Berlin will reimburse him for the hotel expenses in the same way as the other affected residents.

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The 19-year-old daughter, who is studying in London, was badly affected. She came to Berlin to visit her family and ended up in an icy terraced house. Then the flight home didn't work either: Due to snowfall, her London flight was canceled so that she had to return to the family again at two o'clock in the morning.

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For the 16-year-old son, classes at the International school start again tomorrow, Wednesday, so the family hopes to be able to move back home tomorrow. The diplomat himself can warm up during the day at the embassy in the Tiergarten district, where he works in the political department. His wife, however, is not complaining, she is adapting, he explains.

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Ten-page letter claiming responsibility

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The Berlin Attorney General's Office has taken over the investigation into the arson attack that led to the major power outage. Since last Saturday, those affected have been sitting in the dark in the evening, and most people have neither heating nor hot water. “Vulkangruppe: Den Herrschenden den Saft abdrehen” (Vulcan Group: Cut off the power to those in power) is the title of the ten-page letter of confession from the perpetrators who, according to the current state of the investigation, are currently being targeted by the Berlin police.

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Berlin Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) spoke of “left-wing terrorism” and condemned “this inhumane attack, which deliberately and specifically endangers human lives – and that in a region where there are many elderly people and people in nursing homes.”

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On Monday, the Berlin Senate announced support for the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces), which will, among other things, help set up soup kitchens. Berlin police and fire departments are working tirelessly to support those affected. In emergency shelters, citizens can spend the night on camp beds or charge their mobile phones.

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Power generators from other federal states

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According to Berlin Senator for Economics Franziska Giffey (SPD), all available power generators are currently in use, and more are being requested from other federal states. Some schools and daycare centers are closed. On Monday afternoon, 30,000 out of the original 45,000 households were still affected. Full supply is expected to be restored on Thursday afternoon.