April 29, 2014

Water & Power - The Abandoned Water Works (Part 2)

Here's the second and final post about the abandoned water works.
Since it was the last location of the day (and it was overall a 12-hour-tour) we only spent an hour or so inside before heading back to the car to drive home.

Next up: The District Heating Plant. Stay tuned!

































Part 1 | Part 2

April 27, 2014

Water & Power - Abandoned Water Works

This was the fourth location on our second tour in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. We didn't know what to expect because I only had found hints to this location and we had no idea if there was any way to get in, or if it was still there at all.
Since 1890, the nearby city was being supplied by only one water works until in 1954, this facility was built next to a lake to secure the water supply in the growing city.

These water works were closed in 1999 and have been abandoned since then.
The overall condition is really pretty good. Of course, there have been some copper thieves, but it seems they haven't been too successful. The building is pretty well secured and the way in is very narrow.
A lot of the machines aren't there anymore, probably because they were moved or sold when the facility closed down.
Still, the buildings themselves and the remaining thechnical inventory made for some nice photos.





















Part 1 | Part 2

April 25, 2014

Grand Stairway - Abandoned Neo-Renaissance Mansion (Part 3)

Here are my last photos from this tour of the abandoned neo-renaissance castle.
Of course, the grand stairway leads all the way down and in the basement we found the kitchen, bathrooms and various other rooms that were empty.

This was one of the most beautiful houses I have had the opportunitiy to enter in pursuit of this hobby...and I truly hope the house does not fall victim to the vandals like so many others!

But the mansion was only the third out of four locations we visited on that particular trip, so stay tuned for the abandoned water works - it's worth the wait!



























Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

April 23, 2014

Grand Stairway - Abandoned Neo-Renaissance Mansion (Part 2)

Since 1996, the castle has been abandoned and in 2004, has been sold to an unknown owner.
I have to say that for almost 20 years of abandonment the building is in pretty good shape. If you look past the graffiti.
I guess, that's due to the massive security measures that have been taken to protect the building. The way in was quite adventurous and involved a little climbing...
Anyway, here are the next couple of photos.
























Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

April 21, 2014

Grand Stairway - Abandoned Neo-Renaissance Mansion

This neo-renaissance style mansion was built around 1880 and was the declared favorite estate of the grand ducal family since 1847.
It was the third location we visited on that particular Saturday.
Duke Friedrich Franz II. had this castle built according to plans of a famous architect. The castle and the estate remainded the property of the grand ducal family until 1945.
From 1946 until 1995, the castle was used as an educational institution for forest rangers and forest managers.
Next to the spectacular flight of stairs in the center of the mansion, the stuccoed ceilings and the excellent woodwork really are worth noticing!






























Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

April 19, 2014

Relicts of Socialism - The Party's Cadre Factory

In the German Democratic Rebublic - Eastern Germany - the ruling party was the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, Socialist Unity Party of Germany).
The political system united the principles of a people's republic with the self-conception of a socialist state.
Since the form of government was in this case characterized by one dominating party, it was in fact a party's dictatorship.
The primary political goal of the party - establishing and maintaining a dictatorship of the proletariat - could only be accomplished by controlling and influencing every aspect of society.
One way to realize the indoctrination of the people, was founding party schools in a strong hierarchichal manner. On the lowest level are the community schools, above that are the regional schools and on top either the party's university or the russian communist party's school in Moscow.

This is a regional school of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
It was founded in 1979.
The complex consists of the boarding school building with 6 floors and 174 two-bed rooms, a canteen with two floors and more than 200 seats and a café with about 120 seats and a four-floor lecturing building with a 500-seat auditorium.
After the German reunification, the building was sold to the city and used as a school building for the school for public administration until the year 2000 when it was finally abandoned.
In January of 2013, a large part of the school became a victim of a large fire. There is almost nothing left of the lecturing building.





































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