Neo-Classical Castle G.

On a beautiful day in the middly of July, my wife, myself and two urbex colleagues drove east to explore variouis castles and mansions in the eastern part of Germany.
The first spot was this beautiful abandoned neo-classical mansion that was last used as a hotel until about five years ago.
My wife and I were driving togehter with Lichtbeschatter Photography, and we got to the little town just as we had planned. The rain that had been pouring that morning had stopped and the sun had come out.
We got out of the car and while we had to wait for the fourth guy, we took a short walk and did a preliminary exploration of the park around the mansion, but we didn't see a way in.
When the last guy arrived, we started walking around the building again. During our second round, I noticed a basement window which seemed to be accessible. I pushed the wooden board aside that had been leaning against the window from the inside and squeezed myself through the tiny hole in the window.
The others didn't want to go in that way at first, so I walked around the ground floor inside the building quickly to see if there was another option to get in, but there was none, so the others had to squeeze in as well.

The place was everything we had hoped for - almost no vandalism, beautiful staircases and great light. It was a great place and a great exploration.
When we were finished, we climbed out of the basement window and were waiting for the last guy who was taking a little longer with his photos. While we were waiting, sitting on the steps in front of the main entrance, the gardener drove by on his little tractor and we got to meet him and his dog Helga.
We had a nice little chat with him. I think he knew exactly what we were up to. He told us about some guys from Leipzig who had been there the weekend before and who were caught unscrewing one of the front windows in an attempt to get inside...
We weren't caught, and I think he apprecuiated the respect with which we were talking about the beautiful mansion, so he left again and we were able to continue our tour...


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

Hotel on the Hill

For the third location on our short tour at the end of June, Nordgriller Urbex and I had decided rather spontaneously on an abandoned hotel that was just outside of the small town that was home to the other two spots we had visited that day.
We didn't expect very much since the history of the place suggested that there wouldn't be much left to admire. And we weren't disappointed. In being disappointed, I mean.
Driving up the hill, we could already see that the once beautiful hotel had been taken apart thoroughly.
We still parked the car and checked it out for a while. The security measures are non-existent, so entering was as easy as walking down the street to the supermarket.
There literally is nothing left. Everything that could be moved out has been moved out.
After about 30 minutes, we left and drove home.


To find out more about the history of this hotel and to check out all photos from this interesting spot, click the button below!

To find out more about the history of this hotel and to check out all photos from this interesting spot, click the button below!

Retirement Home I. [Revisit]

The second spot on our tour at the end of June took Nordgriller Urbex and me to an abandoned retirement home that I had visited about two months before.
All the locations we had picked for the day are in the same town, so it was only a short ride.
On our first way around the building, we met a lady who was walking her dog. We greeted her friendly, and we continued or preliminary scouting.
I couldn't exactly remember where the way in had been - it was a lucky find the first time around, and as opposed to the first visit, the bushes really had grown, so it was almost impossible to recognize which way we had taken.
So we kept walking around the building when the lady we met on our way in came towards us, this time accompanied by another lady. They had the dog with them and asked us what we were doing. We told them that we were on a photographic exploration of the area and how much we enjoyed the horse range just a couple of meters away...
Of course we also mentioned the abandoned retirement home, and we talked about it for about fifteen minutes before they left us alone again and we took up our search again.
We were just about to give up when I finally found the  open door that we had taken the last time. It was still open and we started taking pictures right away.


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

The House of the Hunter

After the three-spot-tour at the end of May, it was four weeks of cold turkey for me. No tours for an entire month, and it took some effort to convince my friend Nordgriller Urbex to join me on a short trip that even allowed us to stay in our home state.
It was a short ride of only about 60 kilometers, so we were there rather quickly and headed for the first location, an abandoned mansion that used to be an old farm house but was then expanded to a pretty large estate house.
First we did our usual drive-by to check out the area. Then we found a spot to park, got our stuff and walked along the fence.
The house is right in the middle of a residential area near a lake with a recreational area and the weather was pretty good, so there were alot of people passing us. We waited for the right moment and squeezed through a hole in the fence.
After that, it was only a short walk through the park surrounding the main house, and the only task left was to find a way in. After a couple of minutes, we had found a window which wasn't as firmly shut as the other, and we made our way in.
The house itself isn't really spectacular. The last owner seems to have been a hunter or taxidermist (more likely hunter) because there were a lot of stuffed animals, antlers and bones lying around in one of the rooms. Another room was full of oriental rugs, si I think that at some point in the past 20 years, someone wanted to renovate the house and started by putting things of a kind together in rooms...and then stopped.
After about an hour and a half, we left for the next spot.

To find out more about the history of this mansion and to check out all photos from this interesting spot, click the button below!