Kai Wegner, Berlin’s CDU mayor, had to admit: While 100,000 Berliners endured without electricity, he enjoyed a game of tennis. The anger is immense.
Berlin – Since yesterday afternoon, normal life can begin again for hundreds of thousands of Berliners after the devastating, day-long power outage. Things are becoming increasingly uncomfortable for Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU): It has now emerged that he was playing tennis with his partner on the day of the power outage, while 45,000 Berlin households were cut off from the power grid. Calls for Wegner’s resignation are now pouring in across all parties. For the CDU mayor, the matter could turn out to be a fatal Laschet moment.
As a reminder: During a visit in the summer of 2021 to the flood area in Erftstadt, North Rhine-Westphalia, cameras captured the then candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet (CDU) joking and laughing. Of all things, while a few meters away, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was talking with a serious face about “those who have suffered great losses”. The scene sparked an avalanche of criticism. From then on, Laschet’s defeat in the 2021 federal election seemed sealed.
Wegner initially didn’t admit to playing tennis during the power outage in Berlin – “on the phone all day”
What’s particularly piquant about Kai Wegner (52) is that he initially didn’t admit that he was on the tennis court a few hours after the power outage. He had previously responded angrily to journalists’ questions by saying that he was “neither bored nor put his feet up” on Saturday when the blackout started, but had been “on the phone all day.” “I was at home, literally locked myself in my office and then coordinated.”
Wegner only admitted that that wasn’t the whole truth, but that he played tennis from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. after the station had told him rbb had confronted with it. The Daily Mirror reported that he was standing on the square with his partner, Education Senator Katharina Günter-Wünsch (CDU).
Senate spokeswoman Christine Richter emphasized that the CDU politician was always available. Wegner also explained in rbbhe was on duty on the tennis court before and immediately after his trip and was also available on the court. During Wegner’s tennis game, 100,000 Berliners were without power for hours due to an arson attack. The situation in nursing homes, which were evacuated from 10 a.m., was particularly precarious.
Blackout in Berlin
The power outage in southwest Berlin affected around 100,000 people. From Saturday morning (January 3rd), 45,000 households were left in the dark – without heating, internet and mobile communications. The longest blackout in post-war history was triggered by an arson attack on a cable bridge in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district, for which a left-wing extremist group claimed responsibility. The damage was only repaired on Wednesday afternoon (January 7th).
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner only showed up on the second day of the power outage
Wegner had already been criticized for only getting an idea of the situation on site on the second day of the power outage: it was only on Sunday that the governing mayor showed up at those affected and visited an emergency shelter. According to a report by the Spiegel Listen to accusations about why crisis management in Berlin isn’t working and why he’s only showing up now. It is said that the CDU politician appeared awkward and did not cut a good figure.
Wegner admitted that he should have said earlier that he wasn’t busy dealing with the consequences of the blackout all day on Saturday, but instead pursued his hobby in between. “Looking back, I should have said that on Sunday,” he said on Wednesday evening (January 7). rbb. He also explained evasively WeltTV, it would not have helped the people in the areas affected by the power outage if he had been there on Saturday. He justified himself by saying that he did an hour of exercise “to clear his head” and that he thought it was “okay”.
There is a hail of criticism of Mayor Wegner: a trip to tennis during the blackout is “absurd”
There is criticism of Wegner from the other parties: the former governing mayor of Berlin, Walter Momper, said dpa: “He didn’t recognize the dimension of the whole story.” He sees serious failings in Wegner’s behavior: “He knew that the power had now been interrupted for thousands of households, and I assume he also knew how long that would last. And he didn’t react appropriately.” The trip to the tennis court “seemed a bit absurd to me.” What’s particularly problematic is that he didn’t admit this at first: “That was probably a protective claim. That’s serious enough.”
SPD top candidate Steffen Krach described Wegner’s behavior as unacceptable and unworthy of a governing mayor. Green party leader Werner Graf also spoke up. Wegner did not tell the population the truth “in a dark hour in this city”. “You have to say very clearly that Berliners rightly have completely different demands on a governing mayor.”
Left country leader Maximilian Schirmer explained: “Anyone who would rather play tennis than be with people in their greatest need should perhaps consider whether this job is still the right one for them.” The AfD is calling for the mayor’s resignation, as are the FDP, which is not represented in parliament, and the BSW.
Tennis instead of crisis management: Wegner is threatened with a Laschet moment – the CDU has so far been ahead in the polls
The tennis game during the biggest blackout in Berlin in post-war history will certainly not help Wegner in the upcoming election campaign. The Berlin House of Representatives will be re-elected in September 2026. According to current surveys, the CDU leads with 22 percent, ahead of the Left with 19 percent and the AfD and the Greens with 16 percent. But the lead could quickly disappear. It was similar with CDU candidate Armin Laschet before the 2021 federal election, when his laughter in the crisis area amazed the whole of Germany. Green Family Minister Anne Spiegel, who had to resign in 2022 because she went on vacation ten days after the dramatic flood in the Ahr Valley, is also remembered.
Other politicians, on the other hand, were able to use crises to their advantage: During the 2002 election campaign, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD), deeply shaken, waded through the flood area in Grimma with rubber boots, which caused his popularity to skyrocket. His challenger Edmund Stoiber (CSU) missed this opportunity. Matthias Platzeck (SPD) was also able to benefit from his decisive demeanor during a crisis: in 1997, Platzeck became known nationwide when, as Environment Minister of Brandenburg, he resolutely and publicly opposed the flooding of the Oder – which even earned him the title of “Dike Chief”. (Sources: dpa, Spiegel, Tagesspiegel, rbb, SWR) (smu)
