An old military barracks in eastern Germany. Places like this are dark but fascinating:
Right now I'm 18 meters under ground.
There's only concrete around me. It's a little spooky here.
It's a so called Lost Place in Brandenburg close to Berlin.
But let's start above ground.
Wünsdorf, 20 kilometers south of Berlin.
Until shortly after the fall of the Wall, this was a barracks of the former Soviet army.
Since its departure in 1994, the area has been neglected.
Here, I meet around 30 amateur photographers
looking for special subjects. After a short briefing, everyone can go off on their own.
Photo tours such as this are regularly offered by a Berlin operator.
In front of the main building stands a monument to Lenin,
the leader of the October Revolution in Russia in 1917.
It is said to be the last one left in Germany.
I'm now inside the main building, the so-called officers' house,
and I'm obviously all alone here right now.
It smells musty, decades-old dust hangs in the air.
On the upper floor I discover the remains of a radio studio.
I wonder what was recorded here in the past?
I venture further up into the attic. I feel a little queasy up here, but I'm rewarded.
Can't believe it. This is an old newspaper. It's from 1986. This newspaper is older than me.
Betreten verboten – no trespassing!
Well, as a participant of the tour of course I'm allowed in.
Wünsdorf was already a military area in the 19th century: In 1910 an imperial military training area,
was built for the then German empire. Later, under Hitler, the High Command of
the German Army had its headquarters here. From 1953 to 1994, Wünsdorf was a garrison town
for the so-called Group of Soviet Armed Forces in Germany. Up to 75,000 military personnel
lived here with their families. There were schools, kindergartens, shops, as well as
sports and cultural facilities.
You have to imagine this used to be a theatre. There was a lot going on here. And now?
It's just silence.
I follow a tip from the organizer and visit the former bathing establishment.
I can just imagine how the soldiers used to swim here.
Finally, we visit the outdoor pool.
Almost 30 years of standstill. They have cast a strange spell over the site.
Also in Wünsdorf, about 2 km away, I join another tour.
These concrete remains belong to the Maybach facility – a bunker system.
It served as the headquarters of the Army High Command during World War II.
12 buildings above the bunker were erected in the style of a country house estate for camouflage.
After World War II, the victorious Allied powers had the facility blown up.
The Wünsdorf Zeppelin was the central intelligence bunker of the German Army High Command.
Let's take a closer look.
We go down 3 floors, a total of 18 meters under ground.
The bunker has a constant temperature of 10 degrees Celsius.
It was the heart of military communications during World War II.
Later, the Soviet Army used it for its own communications.
In 1939, only two years after it was built, the bunker went into operation,
equipped with the latest technology of the time.
That was pretty impressive. And now there's another lost place waiting for me,
also here in Brandenburg. Let s go!
Welcome to the Beelitz Sanatoriums.
The former sanatorium in Beelitz used to be one of the largest hospital complexes in the Berlin area.
Up to 1,200 patients could be admitted, most of them suffering from tuberculosis.
Opened in 1902, this was a military hospital during WWI and WWII, then a military hospital for the Soviet Army.
A treetop path, 700 meters long and up to 23 meters high, now leads through part of the site.
I meet Beate Hoffmann, who is one of the people behind the area's transformation into a tourist attraction.
Take a look at that. There are trees on top of the building.
You can say, nature is taking back the building.
This is the building I'm about to enter. It is the so-called Alpenhaus.
It burned down at the end of World War II and has stood empty and in ruins ever since.
The house has inspired artists and served as a set for films.
The Alpenhaus had room for around 270 patients.
Some of the relics illustrate the function of the rooms at that time.
Such as the staged table in the former dining room.
I also visit the house of the former surgery.
This is one of 60 buildings that have been preserved on the entire 200 hectare area of
the sanatorium complex.
Most of the traces here speak to the time
when it was a Soviet military hospital. The remains of the surgery are particularly impressive.
A lot has changed already but there is still around lost places in Brandenburg.
The question is: for how much longer? So I recommend you to visit them
as soon as possible before there is nothing more to see of this exciting and spooky past.
Whether in photographs or in my memory, the impressions I take away from these Lost Places
will stay with me for a long time.