Overview
- A buried data cable linking the Hamburg data centre with the Celle site was damaged during excavation in Winsen and was later fully severed after workers refilled the trench.
- The break left most courts, prisons and justice offices with no email, no communications and no electronic case files while the trade register and land registry continued to work.
- Technicians from the justice ministry are inspecting and repairing the line and the ministry expects the connection to be restored by evening or night with hopes of normal operations resuming on Thursday.
- Officials say a second, redundant line is being installed but was not active when the cable failed, which is why a single cut caused widespread outages.
- The CDU has publicly blamed Justice Minister Kathrin Wahlmann for weak IT resilience and the incident raises pressure on the ministry to speed up backup links and long-term infrastructure planning.