Suspected Arson in Reutlingen: Investigators Examine Parallels to Berlin Attacks

Based on the preliminary findings of the investigation so far, the investigators from the Prosecutor General's Office and the LKA Stuttgart assume one or more perpetrators. According to the current state of knowledge, they entered the premises in order to set fire to several locations there. An accelerant is believed to have been used. There is no indication of a political background. "We have no claim of responsibility."

Investigation Status: Accelerant Secured, Motive Unknown

A spokesperson for the LKA Stuttgart said there were no indications of a political background. At the same time, a spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office Stuttgart confirmed that no claim of responsibility for the act had become known so far. According to the LKA, there is no claim of responsibility. There are no indications of a possible mastermind abroad.

Tens of thousands of people were temporarily without electricity, including a hospital as well as numerous industrial and commercial enterprises. According to Interior Minister Manuel Hagel (CDU), around 7,600 buildings and some 40,000 people were affected by the power outage. A hospital was also affected. The hospital in question was a facility in Reutlingen that, according to the city, could be "provisionally supplied with power again."

Scale of the Outage: 40,000 Affected and a Hospital

The city of Reutlingen – which has a total of just under 120,000 inhabitants and lies at the foot of the Swabian Alb – published a notice on its website on Tuesday. By Tuesday midday, "nearly all affected private households had been provisionally supplied with power again," the city said on its website, including the hospital. 99 percent of private households have since had their power restored following the outage.

The utility FairNetz, which operates the substation together with Netze BW, stated that for more than 50 medium-voltage customers, the company is still working together with Netze BW on a connection. As the utility announced, the power supply remains interrupted for a small number of commercial enterprises. Around 50 commercial customers, however, are still without power. Currently not yet back on the grid are some 50 medium-voltage customers who draw their power via the Reutlingen-West substation.

Nearly all private households in Reutlingen had power again from the previous evening, around 10:00 p.m. However, residents were still asked to use electricity sparingly, as the provisional network was not designed for high loads. The utilities Netze BW and FairNetz were working "at full speed" on a solution. However, the supply for the remaining commercial enterprises would "not be restored before tomorrow evening." A petrol station in the Reutlingen commercial area remained without power as a visible consequence of the outage.

According to the grid operator, work to stabilize the network is ongoing, so that a normal power supply is expected again throughout the entire affected area on Wednesday. Richard Huber, Head of Cross-System Infrastructure at Netze BW, spoke at a press conference in the afternoon about the expected restoration of supply. Overall, according to Netze BW, the work will likely continue for months until the total damage has been repaired. Customers would not notice this, however.

Restoration of Supply: Stabilization Ongoing

According to the operator, both transformers at the West substation are currently damaged; at least one functioning transformer is required for a full power supply. Marius Häusermann of FairNetz explained that the company is working intensively on a solution for the affected medium-voltage customers. According to this, no security priority was in place at the substation in Reutlingen.

Among the affected companies were also Bosch plants in Reutlingen and Kusterdingen. The plant in Reutlingen is gradually ramping up operations again, while the workforce in Kusterdingen, where possible, is working from home. According to information from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the fire and the power outage caused damage running into several million euros. The repair costs at the substation itself are also likely, in Netze BW's assessment, to run into the millions.

A police hundred-strong unit was deployed to Reutlingen in order to show a police presence at critical infrastructure and in the areas where there was still no power. The police continued their operations overnight in order to prevent looting in the affected Reutlingen areas. The Reutlingen fire department has been in continuous operation since the start of the power outage and maintained a command staff presence overnight in order to be able to respond to new incidents.

Security Measures and Police Presence on Site

Given the scale of the outage, state security, together with the counter-terrorism center at the LKA Baden-Württemberg, has taken over the investigation. According to Hagel, the investigation is being pursued with great urgency – "above all because of the suspicion of deliberate arson and the disruption of public utilities." An investigation team "Fischer" has been set up. "Our investigation team will turn over every single stone, and we will bring the perpetrator to account with the full force of the law," Hagel said. The possible accelerant secured at the substation and further evidence items will now be analyzed. Information regarding possible suspects or motives is not yet available. The investigations by the forensics team, including the deployment of a fire-detection dog and with the involvement of experts, have not yet been completed.

Investigations Under the Lead of State Security

The incident is reminiscent of two arson attacks on the power supply in Berlin that are believed to have been carried out by left-wing extremists. Following the first attack on September 9, 2025, on two power masts, around 50,000 private households and some 2,000 commercial enterprises were temporarily affected by the power outage. The outage lasted around 60 hours; it was not until the afternoon of September 11 that all households were back on the grid. In the second attack on January 3, five high-voltage and ten medium-voltage cables on a cable bridge were destroyed; in total, 15 cables were destroyed. At the time there was icy cold and snow – and the power outage also meant that many central heating systems no longer worked. Thousands of Berliners fled to friends, acquaintances, and hotels. It was not until January 7 – after around 100 hours – that the power supply was restored for all those affected.

Parallels to Suspected Left-Wing Extremist Attacks in Berlin

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) had spoken of an "arson attack" on "Tagesschau" and on ZDF. "We assume that this is in all probability an arson attack," he said on ZDF. In his assessment, the method used in Reutlingen was reminiscent of earlier arson attacks. Security experts see indications of left-wing extremist perpetrators in the method; the approach shows parallels to corresponding acts in Berlin.

Baden-Württemberg's Minister-President Cem Özdemir (Greens) did not yet wish to classify the fire as an attack and was cautious regarding possible perpetrators. "The police are still investigating in all directions," he said. At the same time, he spoke out in favor of strengthening resilience: "It is about strengthening our resilience in order to be as little vulnerable to attack as possible." On the question of protecting substations, Özdemir said: "The idea that we essentially shield all substations from the public is hardly enforceable." In his view, the strategy during the incident in Reutlingen had worked, since the supply for people and vulnerable groups had been clearly prioritized and the rapid police presence had prevented any exploitation of the outage.

Political Reactions: Dobrindt and Özdemir Comment

Netze BW explained its own security concept: It is tiered according to facilities, with factors such as the size of a possible supply outage and the type of customers – for example, research institutes or the defense industry – determining the level of protection. Complete protection is presumably not possible. Private security services are not currently planned for substations, which is, among other things, a question of costs that would need to be discussed politically. It remains unclear as of when the power supply will be fully restored.

This report was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on 09.06.2026. The present report is based, among other things, on information from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).