Berlin Administrative Court Confirms: Wegner Did Not Tell the Truth During the Power Outage

Background of the Power Outage

In the weeks that followed, Governing Mayor Kai Wegner repeatedly claimed that he had «den ganzen Tag zu Hause eingeschlossen» and coordinated the situation from there. In an interview with Welt-TV, he initially said he had barricaded himself in his home office. He also stated in an NZZ interview: «Ich habe in der Tat um 8 Uhr 8 begonnen, die Telefonate zu führen.» He said he had spoken by phone with crisis teams, the network operator Stromnetz Berlin, the Federal Chancellery, and the Federal Ministry of the Interior. At a press conference in March, he repeated the sentence «Hierzu ist alles gesagt.» six times in response to related questions.

As Tagesspiegel research shows, this does not correspond to the actual course of the day. According to the report, Wegner did not visit City Hall either in the morning or in the afternoon of the first day of the crisis to coordinate relief efforts. He also did not travel to the affected neighborhoods on day one «ein Bild von der tatsächlich dramatischen Lage zu machen». Instead, he reportedly wanted «mittags bei einer Stunde Tennis mit seiner Lebensgefährtin, der Berliner Bildungssenatorin Katharina Günther-Wünsch, «frei kriegen» wollen». Wegner himself later admitted: «Ich habe von 13 bis 14 Uhr Tennis gespielt, weil ich einfach den Kopf freikriegen wollte.» He had previously kept the tennis outing quiet for around five days.

Research and Court Ruling

To clarify the exact sequence of events, the «Tagesspiegel» had to file two urgent applications with the Berlin Administrative Court. «Das ergaben Recherchen und erfolgreiche Offenlegungsbegehren des Berliner «Tagesspiegels» beim Berliner Verwaltungsgericht.» Only the court ruling compelled the Senate Chancellery to provide the requested information. According to this, no official telephone calls by the mayor took place before 12:45 p.m. on the day of the outage, «vielmehr fand der Austausch per Textnachrichten statt». The Senate Chancellery had previously claimed in a letter to the «Tagesspiegel» that the assumption that Wegner had made no official calls that morning was «unzutreffend» — but only corrected this statement after the court ruling.

When asked by the «Tagesspiegel», the Senate Chancellery no longer disputed that Wegner's statements had been «wissentlich falsch». The Senate Chancellery in turn spoke of «Fehler in der Kommunikation». In an RBB video chat from a reception on Tuesday evening, Wegner said: «Das hatten wir ja schon im März bestätigt, dass ich zwei Telefonate am Vormittag geführt habe, den Rest über Textnachrichten gemacht habe.» This account contradicts the court-forced records, according to which there were no official calls whatsoever before 12:45 p.m.

Political Reactions

The revelations have plunged Berlin's political scene into a severe crisis. For the first time, the SPD, which forms a coalition with the CDU in Berlin, has called for the head of government's resignation. SPD lead candidate Steffen Krach, with whom «im September wird an der Spree erneut gewählt» a new election is approaching, stated: «Seine Amtsführung ist ungenügend, sein Verhältnis zur Wahrheit beschämend. Der menschliche Anstand würde jetzt erfordern, dass er sich zurückzieht.» The Berlin SPD's lead candidate – «im September wird an der Spree erneut gewählt» – «hat deshalb nicht unrecht, wenn er bemerkt, dass der «menschliche Anstand» eigentlich Wegners Rückzug erfordere», wrote the «NZZ».

Sharp reactions are also coming from the opposition. Left party lead candidate Elif Eralp said Wegner had «bewusst verfälscht» his role in the crisis and had thereby «endgültig verspielt» his credibility as Governing Mayor. The former Left politician summed it up with the sentence: «Wer dreimal lügt, den wählt man nicht.» In the Berlin-Trend poll, the Left party is at 20 percent, the Greens at 18, the AfD and CDU at 17 each, and the SPD at 15 percent. In the 2023 election, the CDU had still achieved 28.2 percent, taking first place for the first time since 1999.

Outlook on the September Election

Wegner himself has since asked the «Berlinerinnen und Berliner» «für die er inzwischen, vor allem auf Druck einzelner hartnäckiger Journalisten, die «Berlinerinnen und Berliner» um Verzeihung bat» for forgiveness for «Fehler in der Kommunikation». To the «Tagesspiegel», he rejected this characterization: «Die Interpretation des Tagesspiegels entbehrt jeder Grundlage.» In the NZZ interview he had also conceded: «Als Christlichdemokrat habe er erst lernen müssen, was für eine bunte, tolerante und vielfältige Politik eine Metropole wie Berlin brauche.» In view of the severe setbacks in the polls, Wegner pointed to his achievements so far: «Berlin habe mehr Lehrer und Lehrerinnen eingestellt, der Wohnungsbau komme voran, ebenso der Kampf gegen Clankriminalität», and «müssten die Bürgerinnen und Bürger nicht mehr wochenlang auf Termine bei den Bürgerämtern warten, es gebe nun wieder kurzfristig Slots».

The Berlin power outage of January 3, 2026 is considered the largest in the city's postwar history. On September 20, 2026, a new state parliament will be elected in Berlin. The fact that the city-state, considered one of Europe's most important metropolises, is entering the hot phase of the election campaign with such a crisis further exacerbates the political situation. The SPD's call for Wegner to resign is not just a moral appeal, but comes at a time when coalition discipline is already being put to the test.