Statement Regarding Power Outage in Southwest Berlin
January 7, 2026
The Düppel Campus is gradually getting back its power supply. Integration into the power grid is scheduled for Thursday (January 8, 2026). The regulations and guidelines in place for employees and students continue to remain in effect.
Although the power has been turned back on in many households already, the Düppel Campus is still receiving its electricity from emergency supplies. The aim is to avoid immediately overloading the power grid and the temporary solutions put in place by Stromnetz Berlin.
Reintegration into the power grid is a gradual process and is scheduled for Thursday (January 8, 2026). Once reintegration is complete our colleagues from the Engineering and Utilities Division, the School of Veterinary Medicine, and FUB-IT can then perform a safety check on the affected buildings and get approval to officially reopen them.
To ensure that staff can work safely in the buildings and that laboratory systems and other facilities can be operated safely, some buildings will not be cleared for use and fully reopened until Tuesday of next week. The guidelines and regulations communicated to employees and students regarding lectures, examinations, and the use of offices and study spaces remain in effect.
January 5, 2026
Freie Universität students who are unable to work from home due to the power outage can make use of the following rooms on the Dahlem campus:
Otto von Simson Straße 26 – Seminar Center
- L 113 (up to and including Wednesday, January 7)
- L 115 (up to and including Tuesday, January 6)
- L 116 (up to and including Tuesday, January 6)
Habelschwerdter Allee 45 – “Rostlaube” building
- KL 29 / 137 (up to and including Thursday, January 8)
- KL 29 / 139 (up to and including Thursday, January 8)
Van´t Hoff Straße 6
- 102 (up to and including Thursday, January 8)
- 102 A (up to and including Thursday, January 8)
- 209 A (up to and including Thursday, January 8)
- 211 B (up to and including Thursday, January 8)
January 4, 2026
The current power outage in southwest Berlin has also affected Freie Universität Berlin’s Düppel campus. Many buildings at the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine in Düppel are currently being powered exclusively by emergency generators. Thanks to the hard work of the university’s Engineering and Utilities Division and the active support of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), efforts are being made to restore a reliable power supply to as many buildings as possible.
Other areas of Freie Universität Berlin are not affected by the power outage. Teaching, examinations, and all other operations at campuses outside of Düppel are continuing as scheduled.
Many members of Freie Universität Berlin have been personally affected by the power outage. If you have been impacted by the power outage, please contact your supervisors or departments in order to find individual solutions to help you with your work, study, or administrative duties in the coming days.
Freie Universität Berlin has offered its support to the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf to assist in providing services for affected residents. Current information from the Steglitz-Zehlendorf District Office on support measures and emergency contact numbers can be found here:
New information will be shared promptly as soon as reliable updates become available.