Prison 46

I had gotten a tip regarding this abandoned prison from a fellow explorer in Denmark who said that it might be a nice place for me to explore. So naturally, my friend Lichtbeschatter and myself added this to our list of potential spota for our tour in Denmark in August of last year.
After we had finished exploring the meat factory, we drove south through the beatiful Danish countryside until we got to a small village where we had been told we would find the prison.
I admit, I had been skeptical about this tip, because what I could see from the images on Google Earth hardly looked like a prison; more like a large residential building - and there were no photos on GE to undermine the fact that this was a prison.
So I was more than curious what we were going to find in the little village in Denmark...
The coordinates I had placed the prison right at the main road through the village - and there it was!
Right at the corner, opposite the local inn, was an old building that in fact did look like a prison. A small one, but a prison nonetheless.
So we parked on the inn's parking lot, grabbed our gear from the trunk and walked over to the building. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people around. On that particular corner was not only the local inn, but also a snack shop and a bus stop.
I didn't really care about the snack shop and the inn, because there was a way of getting near the prison without really being seen from there - but the bus stop was kind of annoying, because it was right by the prison. Also, there was a bus stopping at the bus stop right then, and a lot of people got out.
So we stayed at the bus stop across the street and waited until everyone had gone their seperate ways. Lichtbaschatter was worried about the police driving past or that someone from the snack bar might call them , and I told him that this village was so far away from the next larger town that it would take them way too long to get here in time. Then I turned around, started walking toward the prison across the patch of gras surrounding it - and a police car drove by......
They didn't stop and just kept driving, but it was a nice little scare. But that was our cue, because I said that it was very improbable that there would be a second police car driving by anytime soon.
So we walked toward the backside of the prison and foud a little shed that was right at the prison wall. We climbed in and found a small hole in the back wall of the prison. We slipped through and in we were.
It was a really nice place although it wasn't anything spectacular, but we found plenty of nice scenes to shoot.


To find out more about the history of this old prison and to check out all the photos from this spot, click the button below.

Meat Factory B.

We got up early that Sunday morning since we had not only two locations planned but also a relatively far trip back to Germany again.
So we left my neice (almost) asleep and headed for the car.
The first stop on our way was at a bakery to pick up some breakfast. It was the first bakery either of us had ever seen where you have to take a number and wait to be served.
But the wait was worth it. The sandwiches we got were really good and the prices were also relatively moderate (for Denmark).
We only had to drive about fifteen minutes from the bakery to our first spot of the day, an abandoned meat factory.
The company that used to run this factory still exists today - many of you may know their breakfast bacon ;)
As I had expected, the factory has for years been a playground for kids, vandals and graffiti "artists", and they all have left their mark on the location.
Access was really easy - we just walked along the fence until we found a huge piece missing, and we just walked in. It appeared as though this has always been the case - no apparent security measures, the fences looked pretty old, no windows are boarded...it's no wonder that there have been numerous fires and the vandalism has taken its toll.

After about two and a half hours, we left and headed back to the car to drive about 60 kilometers to the next location...


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

Steel Company R. [Revisit]

Only two weeks after my first visit to the old steel company, the opportunity arose to take another trip to Denmark. My friend Lichtbeschatter and I arranged to stay over at my neice's temporary home (at the time, she was spending a semester studying in Denmark) in Aarhus.
The first spot we visited on the way up north was the steel company. We had some more spots on the list, but for the steel company, we wanted to have a little more time because there are a lot of details to check out.
I was really looking forward to going there again, since the first time, my wife and I didn't have too much time because of the family reunion.
It all went smoothly - just like the first time. We parked on the same driveway a little down the street, quickly went past the neighbors' house and through the gate on the premises.
Nothing had changed. The hole in the wall was still there and in the two weeks since my last visit, there have been no changes at all.
I focused a little more on the details this time. There are so many little things to see. Tools, goggles, machines, valves...
I still didn't find the office part of the company though - that one I found during my third visit which was cut short by Danish police - but that's another story for another time.
Anyway, we took our time, finished our excursion after about three hours and went to check out two more spots. Only to find out that one of them was still in use and the other one had been demolished...
So we drove up to Aarhus for the night and prepared for our tour next morning.


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

The Officers' House

After walking through a large part of the forbidden city for about five hours, we only had three hours left for exploring the "Officers' House".
This part of the forbidden city used to be the Imperial German Sport School. When the Soviets took over in 1945, the significance of the building complex changed completely. The area became the most important cultural and enterntainment center for the Soviet troops stationed in East Germany.
Since this was a legal visit, we were not alone. A lot of other people - especially "photographers" and their "models" were running around as if they owned the place and acted really ruthless and inconsiderate, running right into other peoples view and ruining their shots.
This is one part of legal tours that I really hate...
But anyway, the spectacular architecture of the huildings compensated for the stupidity of some people and we managed to get some nice shots as well.


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