Tour Report: Railway Tunnel T.

After our visit to the car sculpture park, we wanted to check out another location with my cousin Peter. We decided on a disused railway tunnel, as it wasn't too far away and we assumed it would be easy to reach.

First of all, it wasn't that easy to find a parking spot, because the path to the tunnel entrance, which was supposed to be “easy” to reach, is located in the middle of a residential area. So the walk was a bit longer than expected—and there was no direct path to the tunnel, so we had to walk quite a distance along the former railroad tracks.

This wouldn't normally have been a problem, but unfortunately the route had turned into a veritable jungle of nettles, some of which were as tall as a man. There was no beaten path or anything similar – we had to walk right through the middle of it.

At some point, I extended the legs of my tripod and swung them around in front of me to “clear” a path, so to speak. That worked quite well, so Peter grabbed a long, sturdy branch and swung it energetically to clear a path as well.

Soon we saw the tunnel entrance in the distance. We could see that the opening was sealed with large wooden panels—but there was a small opening in the form of a door.

We were excited that we would probably have the opportunity to explore the tunnel from the inside.

But no such luck—just a meter behind the wooden wall, a solid steel grate blocked the tunnel.

Since there was only a small door, there was no real source of light, and the light from our flashlights was lost in the darkness. Taking pictures from the inside was therefore completely pointless.

All that remained of this trip were the pictures from outside and the fond memories of our battle with an army of nettles.

To find out more about the history of this place, click the button below.

Tour Report: The Park of Car Sculptures

The second location we visited during our summer vacation in 2020 was the well-known “Car Sculpture Park” in Neandertal near Düsseldorf.

This is not an abandoned place, but a legally accessible open-air "museum" where a somewhat eccentric car dealer has been letting fifty classic cars from 1950 rot away since 2000.

We visited the place together with my cousin, who kindly let us stay at his house for the first few days of our vacation. Peter is very interested in our hobby and not only accompanied us to Neandertal during our stay, but also to another location—more on that in the next post.

The car sculpture park is located directly opposite the Neanderthal Museum, which usually makes it difficult to find a parking space. Fortunately, we arrived quite early in the day, so we were able to snag a parking space right next to the park entrance.

We paid the admission fees, which are graded according to whether you just want to look around, take photos with your cell phone, or take pictures with a “real” camera.

The 20,000-square-meter site offered a wealth of motifs from the world of luxury cars, so to speak:

A stretch of steep racing track on which historic Jaguars and Porsches compete in one last eternal race. A remnant of the Soviet world power, a Moskovich built in 1950, symbolizes half-buried the demise of its country.

A piece of the Berlin Wall, with the original graffiti - and in East and West an army car of the two worlds from 1950 decaying in the face of time. An 11 CV, the gangster limousine that belonged to a French police chief for decades. Some cars have been entwined by tree roots, others have been cut in half as trees have grown through them.

Unfortunately, the grounds filled up very quickly with people (it was a Sunday), making it difficult to take pictures without people in them, but with a little patience, it was possible to capture most of the subjects in peace.

The museum is only open for three hours—with more time, I'm sure I could have photographed even more perspectives. But even so, it was a great experience, and I can well imagine visiting this place again sometime to see how the cars have changed since our visit.

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

Tour Report: Farmhouse "Oblivion"

Our very first stop on our summer trip in 2020 turned into an unforgettable Lost Place adventure. Long before we set out, we were warned: reaching this abandoned farmhouse hidden deep in the countryside would not be easy. But for us, that made the challenge even more exciting.

We had already seen photos online – a nearly untouched farmhouse, still fully furnished, marked by time and decay, yet full of charm and forgotten stories. The building lies quietly off a small road, almost invisible to passersby. But the driveway is right next to that of an inhabited farm, and the neighbors are known to keep a sharp eye on strangers. That meant only one option: approaching the farmhouse unseen, from the back.

So we parked at a safe distance and grabbed our gear. No sooner had we left the car than the summer sky opened and a heavy rain poured down. “It will pass quickly,” we told ourselves, and pressed on toward the woods. The forest promised cover from curious eyes – but it also held its own danger: a moor.

And soon enough we realized why we had been warned. The ground was soft and deceptive, and one wrong step could mean soaked clothes and muddy shoes. Luckily, a friend had shown us a rough path across the boggy terrain. Even so, every step felt tense, and the thrill of urban exploration began long before we reached the building.

When the farmhouse finally appeared before us, our hearts raced with anticipation. The entrance was quickly found: an open window leading into the laundry room. One last glance behind us – then we climbed inside, stepping into another time.

The sight that met us was breathtaking. Hardly any vandalism, no graffiti – instead, authentic decay. Antique furniture, some dating back to the 18th century, stood quietly in place. The kitchen felt as if someone had just left, while the living and dining room, with its old piano, exuded an eerie beauty. Next door, the study told a different story – thick layers of mold covered books and furniture, creating an unsettling but fascinating atmosphere.

The upper floor held little of interest, and sadly, time did not allow us to explore the barn. Our next stop and a warm dinner were still waiting. But this first abandoned farmhouse of our summer trip captured our imagination completely. It was more than just a stop – it was a reminder of why we love exploring abandoned places: the thrill of discovery, the beauty of decay, and the stories hidden in forgotten walls.

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

Tour Report: Eye Clinic N. [Revisit]

We visited a total of three places on our short tour three weeks before our summer vacation in 2020. After visiting the disused railway line and the hotel ruins, we paid a visit to a former eye clinic. We had already visited it once in 2016, and since the building was on the way, we wanted to get an impression of the location, because two years after our first visit, the building and the surrounding park were sold to a new owner.

The parking lot was the same as it had been a few years earlier, so the walk to the location was correspondingly short.

To make a long story short, nothing had changed since our visit four years earlier. There was no evidence of any work—or at least safety measures—being carried out on the building. Only the vegetation in the front area of the park seemed to have been cleared some time ago, with the exception of the trees.

The house itself was overgrown with a thick layer of ivy, and small trees and bushes grew on the balconies and window sills.

As we crept around the house, we could see that some of the ceilings and floors inside had collapsed—the danger of the building collapsing, which was already evident in 2016, had worsened in recent years. Therefore, we decided not to look inside the house again—apart from the decay, there were hardly any worthwhile motifs even at that time.

So we settled for a quick tour around the house and a few photos from the outside—which turned out really atmospheric thanks to the vegetation.

To check out all the photos from this place, click the button below.

Tour Report: Hotel "House L."

The second place we visited on our “interim tour” to bridge the time until our summer vacation in 2020 was the remains of a small hotel. Right next door was another hotel that I had visited a few years earlier, but it was in such a desolate condition that it was hardly worth taking photos. So we concentrated on the small hotel next door.

The site was open and not fenced off; we just had to fight our way through some undergrowth to get to the buildings.

The buildings were in terrible condition.  There was hardly any furniture left, there was a lot of graffiti and trash in the outdoor areas, and most of the windows and doors were destroyed.

However, there were also a few bright spots: the vegetation was really beautiful to look at, and the “real,” natural decay also provided some beautiful motifs.

The place wasn't very big; there were only two small buildings, so we finished our exploration relatively quickly. Then we went back to the car and headed to the next location.

To check out all the photos from this place, click the button below.

Tour Report: The Halls of Carpets [Revisit]

In June 2020, we met up with two very good friends for a little exploring. We thought that it would be nice to pay a revisit to the abandoned carpet factory that we had first explored about a year before. At the time, we hadn't seen everything, because at some point, someone started driving around the premises with a black van, and we didn't know if it was the owner or copper thieves or a security service, so we decided to cut our visit a bit short.

Little did we know that we were going to come across that black van again during our second visit...but one thing at a time.

We met up with our friends Katto and Marco late in the morning. The parking place that we had used the first time was occupied, so we had to look for another one, and we did find one a little farther away, which was okay, because we didn't want to arise an suspicion.

We had first planned to use the access that we had found the first time, but unfortunately that ladder that allowed uns to climb over the wall was gone. So we had to find another way in. Around the side of the premises we found a construction fence through which we could easily enter the site.

From there, we made our way through the huge halls of the once flourishing carpet factory. The architecture had lost none of its appeal for me the second time around, so I really enjoyed this exploration. What's more, we found some areas that had eluded us on our first visit, but which we were able to see at our leisure this time, such as the administration building and the water treatment plant.

As we were examining the latter, the black van suddenly drove up, a door opened and a dog jumped out and ran into the building barking.

Regardless of the situation, it was a funny sight: We had hidden to the side of the hallway to avoid being spotted immediately, and the dog didn't manage to stop due to extremely slippery tiles on the floor. So he then slid on all fours down the corridor into the next room, struggling to stop as he saw us standing right there. It wasn't an aggressive dog, he was just sent in by his owner to scare us.

Of course, we went out, because obviously we had been seen, and we have made it our policy to never run away, but to approach people and be friendly.

The driver of the van was friendly as well. He asked us if we were just taking photos, which we confirmed. He was fine with that and allowed us to go on. He also asked us how we got on the premises and asked us to please close the access when we left.

This situation shows once again that if you are friendly and don't make extra work for people by running away, you usually don't have a negative experience, but on the contrary often even get permission to continue with your exploration.

So we continued our exploration for another hour or so, before we left the place on the same way he had entered it - and of course, we closed the conctruction fence after we left.

To find out a bit more about the history of the place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

Tour Report: Soviet Tank Army Headquarters

Only about 200 meters away from the stone bust of Lenin you can discover another relic of the Soviet occupation, and Lenin has a place there too. It is the headquarters of a Soviet tank army, which was located in a luxurious housing estate during the Cold War. The officers' mess was housed in a former rest home, while other departments were housed in buildings in the surrounding park.

Due to the short distance, we didn't even have to go back to the car, we could go straight there. The grounds were densely overgrown with trees and bushes, but were not cordoned off, so we could simply walk from the road to the mansion-like building that was once the officers' mess. It was here that we crossed paths with Lenin again. A statue of the revolutionary stood in the middle of the thicket, as if he was still watching over the grounds 30 years after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops - his gaze stoically fixed straight ahead.

At first we couldn't find an entrance to the building. At the back, however, we discovered two entrances: an air-raid tunnel that led via a staircase into the bunkered basement of the building, and a direct entrance via a staircase into the said basement.

The listed former rest home is architecturally really beautiful to look at - the Soviet officers probably had a very good time here. However, with the exception of the bunkered cellar, there aren't really many relics of the Soviet army left to discover in the building. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed exploring it, as it is a really beautiful place.

From the officers' mess, we explored the rest of the grounds. The other buildings were not nearly as beautiful; they were brick-built and plastered office barracks like those found in many Soviet bases and garrisons.

However, there were still a few relics to discover in these office buildings: a few pieces of furniture, maps, the classic newspapers on the walls and even some clothes had been left behind by the Soviets.

We hadn't expected the area behind the officers' mess to be so large. It was probably bigger, but part of the area is already being reused.

All in all, it was a very exciting exploration in beautiful weather and with some great surprises!

To find out a bit more about the history of the place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.