Berlin’s Governing Mayor, Kai Wegner (CDU), allegedly did not conduct any official phone calls on the morning of the power outage. This information, reported by the “Tagesspiegel” (Wednesday edition), cites data from the Senate Chancellery regarding Wegner’s professional communication on January 3rd-the first day of the blackout in Southwestern Berlin. The authority was required to provide this information after the newspaper submitted a renewed application to the Berlin Administrative Court.
The Senate Chancellery stated that “no telephone call was held before 12:45 PM.” Instead, the exchanges took place via text messages. The initial phone call at 12:45 PM was reportedly with Senate Secretary Franziska Giffey (SPD).
However, the narrative presented by the “Tagesspiegel” contrasts with statements made by Wegner himself. On January 3rd, an arson attack on a cable bridge halted power supply to up to 45,000 households in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district for four days. Yet, according to the newspaper, on January 7th, Wegner told the TV channel “Welt” his assessment of the crisis management, stating explicitly: “I did actually start making phone calls at 8:08 AM.”
