March 10, 2024

Tour Report: Volvo's Graveyard

On a cold November morning in 2019, we embarked on a tour to Denmark to explore a couple of abandoned places together with our good friend "Lost Places in Schleswig-Holstein und Umland".
The first spot we had on our map for the day was right behind the border, so we only had to drive a little more than an hour from our hometown to get there.
The site is a plot of land with around 30 to 40 old vehicles - mainly Volvos, but also other makes. We don't know for sure whether it is the property of a collector, a mechanic or perhaps even a former car dealer. Rumor has it that someone comes to check on things from time to time, but when we were there, it was just us. Nevertheless, a few vehicle tracks on the driveway showed that a car stops there at least once in a while.
The plot is right next to a housing estate, but is almost completely surrounded by trees, so we were able to move around unseen. We just had to park a little further away so as not to attract attention. Fortunately, there was a public parking lot not too far away.
Once on the site, we took our time to look at everything. There is a small hut and a caravan, but they were locked. There were also some remains of walls that indicated that several small buildings once stood here - but as I said, we were unable to find out more about the history of the site, so we would have to speculate at this point.
The cars were not classic cars in the original sense, although one or two models are certainly considered "classics" by fans and collectors.
I don't know much about cars, but I assume that most of the models on the lot are from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.
We even found one or two Volkswagens (even if there wasn't much left of them), which was surprising in this location, but probably not unusual - however, the tandem bike did seem a little out of place.
We probably spent a good hour and a half at the car graveyard. Then we made our way to the next location we had on our list - an abandoned school, so stay tuned!


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February 27, 2024

Tour Report: Bunker "L36"

In November 2019, I received a tip that one of the remaining high-rise bunkers from the Second World War in my home town was open. Apparently someone - presumably a city employee who had checked the condition - had not properly relocked the thick padlock.
So I set off after work. It was raining heavily and my wife was kind enough to drive me the short distance and then wait for me in the parking lot. The bunker is in the middle of a residential area, so I was able to operate under cover of darkness without being seen.
The door was indeed open, and the lock was only hanging loosely in front of it - but in such a way that it was not immediately visible, which is probably why nobody had noticed it.
Through the steel door, I got inside the massive building.
The basement was completely under water, so I couldn't enter it. The condition inside is not good. The British occupying forces had blown up the bunker after the war - but from the inside, so that the massive outer walls remained standing and the residential buildings in the vicinity were not affected.
On the pictures you can see what the detonation did inside: Stairs have collapsed, walls are full of holes and the thick reinforced concrete ceilings are hanging down in pieces. All in all, the picture was somewhat surreal.
For safety reasons, I didn't venture too far into the upper floors. What's more, after about 15 minutes I came across bats that had apparently chosen the bunker as their winter quarters.
This was the time for me to retreat, as I respect the bat protection period and leave buildings as soon as it becomes clear that they are a bat hibernation site.
The excursion was very interesting, because you don't get to see bunkers this big from the Second World War every day - especially not if they are in a dangerous condition.

To check out all the photos from this amazing place and to find out more about its history, click the button below!





February 17, 2024

Tour Report: Farmhouse "Biker's Heaven"

Our first location that day had been a complete success, and after discovering the beautiful VW Beetle in that old barn, we didn't think this place could be topped by any other.
As it turned out, we were wrong.
I had heard about another farm house in the same area that allegedly had a lot of motorcycles in and around it. To put it this way was completely understating the facts.
But let's start from the top.
After finishing the first exploration, we took a quick coffee break at the car and checked our map for possibilities in the area. There were quite a few spots that we hadn't seen yet, but the "Motorcycle Farm" caught our attention, because it sounded like there really was a lot to see.
It was only about twenty kilometers away, so it didn't take long for us to get there. 
The property was on a country road with several farmsteads, but we couldn't see anyone there, so we parked more or less directly at the driveway. A path about 200 meters long led from the driveway past the almost completely overgrown property to the house. Directly on this path was a trailer with a yacht, and opposite, between a few trees, we spotted a Mercedes-Benz T2 bus in surprisingly good condition.
But that wasn't all. When we reached the house at the end of the path, we could hardly believe our eyes. The entire property was full of vehicles - mainly motorcycles, but also cars and trucks. We even found motorcycles in the house itself. In total, we found fifteen motorcycles in various stages of disrepair. Most of them were Hondas, but we also found a Yamaha Virago in the hallway.
The buildings themselves were in very poor condition. The furnishings were in disarray or destroyed, some of them had fire damage, and some of the roofs and walls had already collapsed.
However, the vehicles more than made up for this.
At the end of our exploration, we took photos of the yacht and the bus. When we got back to our car, a man approached us and asked if we owned the property, which we of course denied. We explained what we had done there and he then told us that he was the owner of a nearby campsite.
According to him, he was very interested in buying some of the vehicles, partly to use them, and partly to use them as decorative objects. He said that he had already asked all the neighbors, but no one knew who owned the yard - so he had high hopes that we could help him. However, we had to disappoint him.

In any case, it was a fantastic tour with two great locations and really beautiful photo opportunities.
Pictures taken later, which I saw online, showed that many of the motorcycles - especially the intact ones - had been removed within a year of our visit. This was then confirmed to me by my contacts in Denmark. I can only hope that these beautiful bikes have ended up in good hands.

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