Berlin’s hospitals prepare for war scenario

Berlin: Berlin’s city authorities, the German Armed Forces and twelve hospitals in the city have been making detailed preparations for grim scenarios, including military clashes breaking out in the German capital.

Berlin’s hospitals have now been presented with a plan – the result of two years’ work – to respond to this and other civil defence scenarios.

The complete plan remains under wraps for security reasons. However, the Berlin Senate presented the important issues at stake, in a press conference on Thursday. These include maintaining the services and supply chains needed for hospital to remain operational, the emergency allocation of patients and ensuring sufficient backup power, medical supplies and medicines. The plan has been drawn up against the backdrop of Russia’s war on Ukraine and NATO fears of a further advance towards western Europe.

When Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, the German government decided to reorganise the country’s civil defence, which had been neglected since reunification in 1990.

Berlin Health Senator Ina Czyborra explained that “due to the changed threat assessment, it has become necessary to expand civil defence beyond what was required in recent years.” The worst-case scenarios include an increased number of patients combined with infrastructure and resource failures, a military conflict in Berlin and the complete evacuation of the capital.

Marc Schreiner, managing director of the Berlin Hospital Association, said regular emergency drills kept hospitals well prepared to respond to acute dangerous situations. The new plan showed that there was still a lot to be done, however. Certain potential crisis situations, such as military conflicts or hybrid threats, required further preparations, he noted. “We must make our health infrastructure more crisis-proof,” Schreiner said.

Berlin aims to boost civil defence

Christian Pegel (L-R), Interior Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Alexander Dobrindt, German Minister of the Interior, under umbrellas at the opening press conference of the nationwide Civil Protection Day in the Hanseatic city’s harbour at Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rostock on July 12, 2025 | Photo: Bernd Wüstneck/dpa

Last Sunday, DPA reported German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt calling for strengthening Germany’s civil protection systems in response to changing threat landscapes – and urged citizens to prepare themselves for potential disaster scenarios.

The country cannot just focus on “military security” but also “civil defence and population protection,” he said on Saturday in the northern city of Rostock, where Civil Protection Day was being marked by the government. The federal government is working with the 16 states to assess the availability of shelters across the country, the minister said. He noted that many shelters had been dismantled in past decades – a decision now being reassessed by Berlin.

Are Germans prepared?

Dobrindt also stressed that citizens must take responsibility for their own emergency preparedness, such as stockpiling food and water. The minister mentioned that he has a hand-crank radio at home. “I also have a crank-powered flashlight — and even a power bank you can operate manually,” he said.

Ralph Tiesler, president of the Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), echoed the need to view civil and military defence as interconnected. “By protecting civilian structures and resources, we ensure that the military side of defence can also function,” he said. A resilient society, he added, is key to national preparedness.

Around 40 emergency services organisations — from fire departments to disaster relief agencies — participated in the public event at Rostock’s harbour.