Anlage 212

Anlage 212 is the designation of the 110 kV powerline running from Sindelfingen substation to the Daimler-Benz car factory. In 1987, the first five pylons of the line were placed on top of the tall concrete bases typically associated with power lines built in flood-prone areas. But this is not a flood-prone area. The pylons were jacked up because officials feared environmental terrorists would destroy them. (The last two of the seven total pylons in this run were surrounded by a special fence designed to detect vibration.)

Protesting against nuclear power and large factories, eco-terrorists destroyed several power lines across Germany in the 1980s. If Anlage 212 would have been attacked, production in the Daimler-Benz (now Daimler AG) factory, which also has its own power station, could have slowed. An attack never occurred and the last of the pylons was dismantled in 1994 after underground cables were installed to do the work that the overhead lines had previously been used for.