Laundry Shop B.

On the way back from the railway repair factory, we checked out the remains of an old iron mine. Parts of it are now a museum, but since it was getting late, we only stopped to check out if the administration buildings are worth a visit. After running into what felt like an ocean of mosquitos, we decided that it wasn't and drove back into town to get some dinner.
After dinner, we went for a little walk and spent some time looking at an old laundry shop that was only two houses over from the hostel were we stayed.
It did look abandoned, but it was dark, so we couldn't really see - and it looked like there was a light on in one of the upper rooms. But that could have been an illusion. My wife and I had looked at the place before and it did look like it was okay, so we decided to check it out the next morning before our friend Lichtbeschatter left for home again.
And so we did. Aftzer breakfast, we packed our stuff and went a couple of meters down the street.
The fence in the back had been cracked open, so getting in the garden was easy. The back door to the house was open as well, and we started our explore.
There was very little vandalism, although it appeared like some closets have been cleared out to look for valuables. The last inhabitants of this place had been racoons, judging by the tracks on the kitchen table and the typical stench.
The laundry shop itself was pretty cool; most of the larges machines were still there, so we had some nice photos to take before we left again.


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Railway Repair Factory M.

On the evening of the fourth day of our summer vacation, my wife and I met up with our friend Lichtbeschatter, who was going to be with us on our urbex tour the next day.

During dinner, we were planning were to go the next day, when my father called and told me that we could keep the car (which we had borrowed from him) for two more days - just in case we'd like to visit a friend up North and explore some more spots. Although not relevant for the next day, this was great, because it extended our vacation and the list of possible locations for the next couple of days.

Anyway, together with Lichtbeschatter, we planned to leave the mountains and drive to a nearby city wich has a huge abandoned railway repair factory which we were goping to visit.

So after dinner and a nightcap (or two...or three...) we all went to sleep.

The next morning, we had a nice long breakfast before we left. The drive to our location took a little over an hour, but once again, the parking situation wasn't too great. It was really hard to find a spot that was close enough to walk (it was VERY hot outside) and yet inconspicuous enough to not be noticed. After all, this wasn't the weekend, and there were people working in the buildings around us.

After we found our parking place, we first did a short walk along the outer fence to look for the opportune way to access the location. We found a relatively hidden part where we could jump the fence, and we did.

We had to walk through a bunch of bushes and high-growing weeds, but then we were there, standing in front of a large factory hall. We found an entrance right away, and for me, the sight was breathtaking. I really dig those large halls made out of steel, concrete, bricks and glass. This one was really special - not only because we were completely alone, but also because the sun was just right to make a nice morning glow that was just a little foggy in parts - perfect for this place which has been overgrown with plants over the years and turned into a jungle.

The factory area is huge. We were there for about five or six hours and I'm sure that we didn't see half of it. But time was scarce and we wanted to check out some more spots on the way back, so we went back out the way we came, loaded our stuff in the car and drove off to our next adventure ;)

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Children's Hospital M.

After the psychiatric hospital, my wife and I had one more abandoned healthcare institution to visit on our fourth day of summer vacation last year.
Finding a place to park proved difficult. The old hospital ist located in a forest with no accessible road, and the main road had no place to park.
The next village was too far away to be walking. After a little strategic meeting, we decided to park on a field next to some nearby houses. We hoped that no one would see us or if they did, become suspicious.
We packed our stuff and walked up to the fence that blocked the long hospital driveway. There was a door in the fence, and naturally I tried to open it which I naturally didn't think would work - but it did! The door was open, so we were on the premises.
After a short walk, we spotted a house standing by the side of the road. It kindof looked like it was still somewhat under construction, but new-looking recycling cans and some tools lying around had us think that something was afoot.
Afer a while of discussing if we should proceed, we did decide to keep going. We gave the house a wide berth as well as we could and soon disappeared behind some bushed. A little further down the way, we finally arrived at the old hospital.
The front door was open, so access was in this case no problem.
I think that the remote location and the fence did their job in keeping vandals and graffiiti artists out most of the time, so although there is almost nothing left that gives proof of the former use, there is still some nice decay to look at.
After finishing our walkthrough, we left on the way that we came in on, and there still wasn't any sign of activity - and our car was unharmed as well.
With a lot of impressions in our head, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for a nice dinner to end a great day of exploring.


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Psychiatric Hospital G.

The tour of the abandoned smelting works had been a great start, and around noon, we had reached our second destination of the day, an abandoned psyciatric hospital that has been decaying for about fifteen years now.
After arriving at the site, we found a nice parking spot right away that was under a large tree, so the sun wouldn't heat up the car too much. It had become really hot outside, so first we took a little break to get acclimatized. About twenty minutes later, we jumped the fence and went inside.
The long time of abandonment and the location near a residential area has led to a considerable amount of decay and vandalism. There some nice corners still to be found, though, and so the exploration was really worth it. Due to the sun standing so high, the light wasn't perfect, but that also meant that it wasn't too hot inside.
After about two hours, we were done and took another short break before getting back into the car and driving off to the next spot...


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Smelting Works H.

Like every day during our summer vacations, we started our fourth day of exploring with a hearty breakfast at the hostel where we stayed.
During berakfast, we finialized the plan we had made during dinner the night before.
The plan for the day was to explore three locations in the southeastern foothills of the Harz mountains. So after breakfast, we loaded our gear into the car and were on our way.
The first spot we were going to check out was an old industrial area - the Smelting Works.
After many years of making an impact on the regional metalworking industry, it is now being used as an area for paintball - at least that's what the sign on the fence said.
There was no one there and it didn't look like the area was being used, so we parked our car out of sight and went along the fence until we found a hole.
The morning sun made for really nice light in the old factory halls and the architecture in some of the buildings reminded me of religious buildings. It was a really nice spot to start the day. After about two and a half hours we went back to the car to drive to the next spot.


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