The city of Berlin started switching off spotlights illuminating its historic monuments as part of a national effort to save energy in the face of Russian gas shortages. Some 200 buildings and landmarks including Berlin’s red-brick city hall, State Opera House and Charlottenburg Palace will fall in darkness at night, officials in the German capital said this week. “Given the war against Ukraine and the energy policy threats by Russia, it’s important that we be as careful as possible with our energy,” the city’s chief official for the environment, Bettina Jarasch, said on Wednesday. Jarasch of the Green party said that included consumers and industry but also public institutions, calling the darkened monuments “the right thing to do to make a visible contribution”. The policy at first affected six monuments from Wednesday night and will eventually encompass 200 buildings and landmarks and their 1,400 spotlights over the next four weeks, Jarasch’s office said. An electrical services firm will shut off 100-120 lights per day without dismantling them, keeping the policy temporary. Thus the cash-strapped capital will not save money as the labour costs are expected to match the benefit of cutting energy use. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said this week he wanted to set an example by keeping his official residence, Bellevue Palace in Berlin’s sprawling Tiergarten park, dark at night.