Just a few kilometers outside of the city limits of Berlin, in the city of Rüdersdorf lie the ruins of the Chemiewerk Rüdersdorf – a former cement turned phosphate chemical factory – with a history dating back over a hundred years. Since its closure in […]

Just a few kilometers outside of Oranienburg – in the middle of the forest lie the ruins of what used to be one of Germanys most modern Lung clinics, the Lungenheilstätte Grabowsee, most commonly referred to as the Heilstätte Grabowsee. Having survived both the first […]

Bernau, just a few kilometers outside of Berlin was a city once known for its extensive Beer and Cloth Production skills. Today its known for being conveniently located on the S-Bahn line to Berlin and its UNESCO World Heritage site. But between 1941 and 1994 […]

Berlin hasn’t always been a very “hygienic city”. Some say it still isn’t, but considering it boasts over 67 public baths today (83 if you count the members only / non-communal ones) then I’d think you’d be safe to say a lot has changed over […]

An hour south of Berlin lay the ruins of the Adolf Hitler Lager – a sprawling military complex known more commonly as Forst Zinna. Between the 1930s and the early 1990s, thousands of Nazis, East Germans and Soviets absolved their military and political training in-between […]

The quaint Oranienburg, just an hours drive north of Berlin has a long history dating back to the 13th century when it was still known as Bötzow. Sadly the period between the early 1930s and late 1940s has tainted its history for time to come. […]

Just a few kilometers outside of Berlin stands what’s left of the Rangierbahnhof Wustermark – once one of Germanys largest and most modern train shunting yards. Allied bombing in World War II, and the division of Germany into east and west sectors afterwards took their […]

The name Elstal might ring a bell for some – mainly due to it being the home of the (not so) abandoned 1936 Olympic Village. But the small village actually has a deeper, specifically military, history due to its proximity to the Truppenübungsplatz Dallgow-Döberitz. The […]

The vast forest and fields around Berlin have had a long military history. The Döberitzer Heide (also known as Dallgow Döberitz), just on the border to the West of Berlin saw its first large scale military maneuvers in 1753. This development continued through the first […]

When venturing out into the forest surrounding Berlin you can never be quite sure what lost and abandoned places you’ll stumble upon, especially when you head just a few kilometers west of Berlin to Dallgow-Döberitz. The first large-scale maneuver – with over 44,000 soldiers – […]

The seemingly sleepy town of Eberswalde, and hour north of Berlin has a lot more history than one could expect. Eberswalde saw a rapid industrialization in the middle of the 19th century with factories and industries ranging from Ironworks, a Paper Factory (now abandoned) to Silk […]

Oranienburg, 35 kilometers to the north of Berlin is a city with a heavy heritage. Not only was it home to two concentration camps – the KZ Oranienburg (one of the first in Germany) and the KZ Sachsenhausen, but it also housed a varied assortment […]

Nothing could be dug up about this little abandoned railroad switch house. We stumbled across this lost place by chance looking for another abandoned structure a while back. While there might not be any information online, we can make a few assumptions based on its […]

When the KZ Sachsenhausen was constructed in 1936, it was intended to be used as a blueprint for other concentration camps, both in its design and management. Just outside of its triangular walls, an SS-Truppenlager was established (along with the SS communications bunker Karo-Ass and a SS Dog […]

Theres not much information to be found about the Heating Plant, but theres enough information about the surrounding area that one can speculate about its history. Judging from its architecture, the building was most likely constructed sometime after the late 1940s, early 1950s. The land […]

When the KZ Sachsenhausen was constructed in 1936, it was intended to be used as a blueprint for other concentration camps, both in its design and management. Just outside of its triangular walls, an SS-Truppenlager was established (along with the SS communications bunker Karo-Ass and […]

Hohenschönhausen is one of those areas in Berlin that one rarely traverses these days. Wedged above Lichtenberg and Marzahn, one struggles to come up with a reason to visit this district – aside from the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, a former State Security Political Prison. But there is […]

After receiving a patent in 1901 for a machine which was capable of drying yarn, the Industrialist Georg Lensch built himself a large representative factory in 1912. The factory was designed by the Austrian Architect Karl Josef Benirschke (who studied in Vienna with Josef Hoffmann). […]

Not much can be dug up about the abandoned Gasthof zum Schwarzen Adler (Black Eagle Inn). The abandoned hotel and restaurant must have been quite the popular hangout seeing as it was located directly next to the entrance of a (now defunct) Phosphate Factory – […]

The abandoned textile factory was designed and built by the architects Naumann & Kalitzki in the year 1923 for two jewish brothers. The brothers had built up their business in 1908, but needed a larger building by the early 1920’s. The building was renowned for […]

In the heart of (one of) central Europe’s largest nature reserves – the Schorfheide –  lie the ruins of Carinhall – Herrmann Göring’s luxurious villa, attracting treasure hunters, Neo-Nazis and the curious alike. While nature has reclaimed what belongs to it over the past 72 […]

Schloss Dammsmühle – an 18th century fairy tale castle to the north of Berlin slowly bidding its time. Once an illustrious home to a wealthy merchant, the abandoned castle has gone through all the un-pleasantries modern German history can offer. But lets start at the […]

Hidden in a thick overgrowth and a fast growing forest in the northeast of Germany lies one of the last remnants of what Hitlers world capital Germania could have looked like. Hitlers secret city – known as the Weiße Häuser Rechlin – the White Houses, […]

The history of the VEB Milchhof (Dairy Farm) begins with the construction and opening of another famous (and now abandoned) Berlin location – the Säuglings und Kinderkrankenhaus in Weißensee in 1911. The Berlin Milk War Before we get into the details we need to go back […]

The Wernerbad was Berlins oldest (abandoned) open air swimming pool. The term Swimmingpool might be a bit of a glorification as the origins of the Wernerbad are a kettle pond – a pond that’s formed by the water of a melting glacier. The origins of […]

Hidden in a small overgrowth in a luxurious suburb of Berlin lie the ruins of an abandoned villa. Built at the turn of the of the 19th Century, the luxurious villa was just one of many in this sleepy part of Berlin.  While its inhabitants […]

Founded in 1867, the now abandoned nail factory specialised in manufacturing horse shoe nails. In 1871, the owners decided to relocate the factory to a new production site as they had developed a machine that allowed for a far more cost-effective and efficient production of […]

Berlin and its Airports – a never-ending saga. First they killed off Berlins most central Airport, Tempelhof in 2008, then they wanted to expand Schönefeld and close down Tegel in 2011. While closing down Tempelhof gave Berlin its “Abandoned Airport Park” , everyone knows how […]

Wedged between some trees in a little forest stands a stripped Soviet helicopter. A Mil Mi-8 to be exact. As rumors have it, the Mil Mi-8 was pushed as a project after Nikita Khrushchev was so impressed by a flight he took  in the American Presidential helicopter […]

When it comes to abandoned structures, it always struck me as odd why cities let Hospitals go to waste. Industries come and go (especially in East Germany), but everybody needs a Hospital right? Berlin has its fair share of abandoned childrens hospitals, clinics and sanatoriums – […]

Sicily – an explorers dream. Stunning landscapes, beautiful coastlines with crystal clear water and lots of abandoned villages and factories. Just a short walk from one of Sicily’s most stunning beaches – san vito lo capo – lies a historic (and abandoned) reminder of the […]

Built in 1873 by one of the richest Germans of the Bismarck era – the White Castle was one of the only buildings in northern Germany at the time to be built out of massive sandstone, granite and real marble. Costing over 4 million Goldmark […]

Once home to a wealthy industrialist or Businessman – this once stunning Villa has been left to fend on its own for several decades. Rotten to the core, its roof has collapsed taking the stairwell with it. Not that you would want to go upstairs […]

In the middle of nowhere, accessible only through one treacherous country road split and cracked by the Sicilian sun lies the Ghost Town of Gibellina.  This place has many names – Gibellina Vecchia, il cretto di Burri or gli Ruderi di Gibellina, but it is […]