Electricity: Cologne turns off the lights at night to save energy

In order to save electricity during the war in Ukraine, Cologne Cathedral remains dark at night.

Electricity: Cologne turns off the lights at night to save energy

In order to save electricity during the war in Ukraine, Cologne Cathedral remains dark at night. The lighting of representative buildings in the city should be switched off at 11 p.m., from autumn at 10 p.m., as the city announced on Monday. On the night of Tuesday, the lights in the cathedral were already off. Normally, the famous gothic building is illuminated all night long. The dark dome is just one of many energy-saving measures that the city has launched.

According to the city, the background is the energy prices, which have risen sharply in view of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions against Russia, as well as the dependence on natural gas and oil imports from Russia. In addition to the abandonment of the nocturnal lighting of important buildings, the street lighting is to be switched on later and switched off earlier, and from 11 p.m. it is to be dimmed down to 50 percent.

In city offices, room air conditioning is to be reduced to an "operationally necessary minimum". When it gets colder, it should only be heated to a maximum of 19 degrees. According to the city, it may take a few days for the measures to be implemented. A spokesman for the city said that the lighting in the cathedral would be "pretty sure" turned off earlier on Tuesday night.

In addition, citizens should be encouraged to save energy. "Everyone should make a contribution to save energy and thus prevent a possible emergency in autumn and winter," said Mayor Henriette Reker.

City notice