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Berlin -The The The The The THE The THE The THE The Street has a different color in a part of Berlin, which is illuminated by gas. The light becomes more ethereal and the shadows deeper. But those regions could plunge into darkness if Germany declares an enhanced gas emergency declaration in the fall.
Berlin is home to the world's largest surviving gaslight network, mostly in the west, bathed in a ghostly light that illuminated much of the world in the 19th century.
What was once a quaint curiosity easily afforded by the capital of a wealthy country is preparing for the future without the Russian gas that Germany has fueled its industry for decades. It is now a problem for city officials because
Fears that Moscow would further reduce gas supplies after its invasion of Ukraine prompted Berlin to cancel plans to replace its remaining 23,000 gas lamps. Accelerate.
"The most important thing is to accelerate the replacement with electric lights," said Benedict Lux, a green member of the City Council's Transportation Committee.
In addition to the imminent and possible cuts in gas supplies, replacing gas lights could help mitigate climate change, Lux said.
The federal government could declare a Level 3 gas emergency if supplies fell further, and Lux fears Berlin could turn off their lights.
Speed -ups are accompanied by ugly shortcuts: Instead of actively wiring the oldest gorgeous cast iron from 1906, the latest LEDs are up to 10,000 euros ($ 10,120), respectively. Some were replaced with aluminum copies.
To save time, cables can be draped between them to avoid digging the road.
Lovers are not happy.
"Berlin is almost the last city in the world where you can take a night walk and drink coffee with gaslights," says the gaslight culture, a foundation dedicated to their preservation. Berthold Kujas, a person in charge, said:
New neighborhoods should be electrically lit, he says, but features of gas-lit neighborhoods should be preserved. The gas is equivalent to about 4,500 kWh per year, and it costs 6.5 million euros in cities. At sea compared to the cuts Germany has to make.
Even modern LEDs cannot perfectly mimic the color of the tiny flames that heat the rare-earth gas mantle. He warns that LEDs attract more insects than gas and kill hundreds of insects overnight.
But the city is uninterrupted. The current plan is to store about 3,000 gas lamps in an old village area. But Lux has his doubts. Even that may be a luxury in the age of climate change. ($1 = 0.9876 Euro) (Reporting by Thomas Escritt, Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
