There are few places in Berlin that I both equally hate and love driving along – one of them being the route of the legendary AVUS in West Berlin. The Autobahn along this section is always plagued with congestions and roadworks which makes it a […]

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 […]

I’ve never really been a fan of Circuses. I’ve been to a fair share, including some in Russia, and I’ve always felt slightly uncomfortable with the often-dubious animal shows. Historically, Berlin had always been known to be a “Circus” City – with dozens of traveling […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 – […]

It seems like nobody likes to go swimming anymore these days. Or at least one gets that impression when looking at the amount of abandoned swimming pools Berlin has. The city has no money to repair them (or is just unwilling to spend it)- and […]

When the DDR erected the „Antifaschistischer Schutzwall“ – aka the Berlin Wall in 1961, the 160 Kilometer long fortification was overlooked by 302 Watchtowers. The East German Watchtowers weren’t only used for guarding the Berlin Wall, but served as Guard-posts for Prisons, Storage Facilities and a wide […]

Berlin-Karlshorst has always had a long history in aviation. Between 1907 and 1911, Georg Wilhelm von Siemens ordered the construction of the first rotating Airship Hangar on a plot of land in Biesdorf. Around the same time, a small airport known to locals under both the names […]

Despite having only closed its doors a few years ago – vandals have found their way into this abandoned anatomy school.  All that remains are the shards of glass and medical tissue papers strew across the floor.  And some old medical machines. Too heavy to […]

Back in the day, Berlin had 6 Airports – Schönefeld, Tegel, Tempelhof, Gatow, Staaken, and Johannisthal. 4 of those have since been closed, some converted into parks and nature reserves, others into museums – and some, such as the old Airport Johannisthal turned into the […]

Berlin is made of Bunkers. Where ever you go, chances are pretty high that you’ll stumble across some signs or remnants of a Bunker. Be it the Volkspark Friedrichshain, underneath the Alexanderplatz, the Boros Bunker or the remnants of the Flakturm at Gesundbrunnen, the city […]

Everybody loves a drink or two – and Berlin was (and still is) a city for drinkers. 150 years ago, the city had over 200 breweries and distilleries – today only a fraction of them remain. While many abandoned and disused breweries and distilleries have […]

From the outside it looks like any other closed down villa – but this 2 story house is more than that. Upon closer inspection this run down Villa turns out to be an Abandoned Cinema. The villa was built in 1894 as a restaurant with […]

Schools out for Summer and everyone’s heading to the pool. But not this one. The Freibad Lichtenberg has been closed for a good 20 years, the ground is still rumored to be littered with bombs from the second world war and the only ones going […]

*Update 19.7.2013* Just as I was about to post this I stumbled across some bad news. Some asshole set the VEB Kabelwerk Köpenick on fire on the 7th of June 2013. 200 sq m of the Roof went up in flames, and according to the […]

The steady decline of film photography and production has become a mere side note in today’s digital world. Every so often you’ll see a small news article pop up stating that Kodak has sold off some patents here and closed down another facility there, or […]

Virtually untouched – hidden in a courtyard lies an old abandoned Gas Station, an 80-year-old Berlin time capsule. A trio of old Arab men guard the courtyard entrance, suspiciously eying up every passerby while casually circulating a joint.  A rather comical scene but a casual […]

The Abandoned Childrens Hospital in Weißensee Berlin or as its was officially known as: The Säuglings- und Kinderkrankenhaus Preußens (Childrens Hospital Prussia) was the first communal run childrens hospital in Prussia. The Childrens Hospital was designed by Carl James Bühring (who played a major role in […]

It seems like i’m slowly turning into a train spotter – or something akin to that. Though i’m not that interested in the trains themselves, i’m interested in the structures that used to house them. While browsing through some Forums, I came across a photo of an interesting […]

By now everyone should have realized that Berlin is a large urban wasteland dotted with specs of “civilization”. With a little research and some light reading you will easily stumble across an Abandoned Industrial Ruin or a deserted S-Bahn Station. Quite some time ago I […]

Marzahn. The last Bastion of old Berlin. Cold, Ugly, and Unwelcoming. Plattenbauten as far as the eye can see. Unless you are a fan of giant east german housing estates, there isn’t terribly much to see. You would think – but then you’d be wrong. […]

Berlin is a truly wonderful place. No matter where you go there, there’s always a secret bit of history to be discovered. Not too long ago a curious property investor stumbled upon a bricked up building in the courtyard of a residential property in Berlin […]

On every second sunday in September, Germany (and several other european countries) celebrates the “Tag des offenen Denkmals”(Day of the open Monuments) as part of the European Heritage Days. Monuments, buildings, and Institutions which are generally closed off to the General Public open up their […]

Walking along the Spree you’ll find an ever decreasing amount of crumbling factories and halls. All are destined to make way for the MediaSpree Project, for luxury Hotels and Offices in the name of Urban Renewal. Yet one of these rotting factories has managed to […]

Germans Love Tunnels. They simply go apeshit for them. Theres simply no other explanation as to why over 7000 people queued up on a Sunday Morning after the BVG invited 5000 enthusiasts to take part in a  “Tunneltag” and walk through 500 meters an old […]