Berlin’s governing mayor, Kai Wegner, faced a wave of criticism this week after revelations surfaced that he was playing tennis during Saturday’s widespread power outage. While the Senate Chancellery confirmed the activity following inquiries from Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Wegner had previously maintained he was actively engaged in crisis management.
The mayor’s initial public statement, made Sunday, portrayed him as immersed in coordinating the response to the blackout, claiming he spent the entire day on the phone, striving to inform himself and manage the situation. He asserted he had “locked himself away in his office, in the truest sense of the word”. This narrative now clashes starkly with the disclosed details of his recreational activities during a period of significant disruption for nearly 20,000 households and 850 businesses across affluent southwestern districts including Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde.
The power failure, attributed to a fire attack on a crucial cable bridge over the Teltow Canal, prompted intense scrutiny and highlighted vulnerabilities in the city’s infrastructure. While repairs were ultimately completed ahead of schedule, the early inconsistencies in Wegner’s account have fueled accusations of a disconnect from the reality experienced by affected residents and businesses.
Opposition parties wasted no time in criticizing Wegner’s judgement and questioning the transparency of his office. “At a time when citizens were struggling without power, the mayor apparently felt it appropriate to pursue leisure activities” stated a spokesperson for the Green Party. “This demonstrates a profound lack of empathy and raises serious concerns about his leadership during times of crisis.
The incident adds to a growing perception of a leadership deficit within Berlin’s city government, particularly concerning preparedness for and responsiveness to critical infrastructure failures. The timing of the event, coinciding with ongoing discussions about the city’s climate resilience and security, has intensified the political fallout and is likely to trigger calls for a review of crisis management protocols and a greater emphasis on mayoral accountability.
