Tour Report: Soviet Maintenance Unit P.

And so we continue with our travelogue of our little excursion to some relics of the Cold War in eastern Germany. After exploring the command bunker at the airfield, we only had to walk a few meters east to reach our next location. Right next to the command bunker site are the remains of a Soviet maintenance unit. There is very little information about the site, but it can be assumed that, among other things, weapons for the Soviet Air Force units stationed at the airfield were maintained and prepared here.

I assume that the two areas used to be strictly separated, as I had seen in many Soviet properties—but almost 30 years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, this separation is no longer taken so seriously ;)

The grounds were easy to access, and we were able to move around freely.

We looked around the residential and service buildings and then explored the halls and garages. Unfortunately, there wasn't really much to see apart from a few Cyrillic inscriptions (“Pyrotechnician's workplace,” “Workplace for the installation, dismantling, and storage of the product”) that gave some indication of how the site was used.

As I said, there wasn't much left to see, so we set off again relatively quickly to take a look at another location.

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Tour Report: Sand-Lime Brick Factory L.

On the way back from our tour to the abandoned dialysis clinic, we had two more locations planned. The first one was an abandoned prison, which of course promised to be an interesting exploration - if we had found a way in. But at the time, that wasn't in the cards. However, six months later, I did return and had more luck - but that will be another story!

The second location was more or less a last resort, because we didn't have anything left that was en route. So we tried it out.

The place was located right next to a residential area which conveniently offered a public parking lot only a short walk from the old factory building.

As we arrived at the location, we could already see that there weren't going to be many photo opportunities: lots of trash had been dumped on the premises, the walls were covered in graffiti, and there were no windows left intact.

The fence around the area hardly deserved that name, so we could just walk onto the premises as we pleased.

We only needed about an hour until we had all the photos that we wanted, so it was a short visit. It wasn't spectacular, but at least we got to see the place before it was demolished a few yeas later.

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Tour Report: Villa "Kidney"

About a month after our summer vacation in 2020, it was time for another exploration tour. The plan sounded perfect: the evening before, we met up with our friends from Pixelcracker and Lost Places in Schleswig-Holstein und Umland at our place and enjoyed a great barbecue together.

Unfortunately, the evening ended with a small accident. My wife seriously injured her right foot, tearing the ligaments and breaking her tailbone. As a result, only the three of us were able to set off the next morning.

Still, the tour promised to be an exciting one. Our chosen location was already well known and quite overrun at the time, but it was also famous for offering many fascinating and beautiful photo opportunities: a huge villa that had been built in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a dialysis clinic, combined with the private living quarters of the doctor.

After the doctor passed away, the clinic continued to operate under a successor until 2009. Since then, the entire complex had been left abandoned.

We started early, as we were planning to meet another friend on site. She wanted to explore the clinic as well, accompanied by a former employee — which was especially interesting, as it often means you can pick up additional background stories and details about the place.

After roughly two and a half hours on the road, we arrived in Boye and parked in a nearby residential area. There we met Andrea and her companion, and just a few minutes later we entered the property.

We quickly found an open door and stepped inside the villa. It became obvious almost immediately that we weren’t alone. At least two other groups were already inside, wandering around and taking photos.

So even early in the morning, the place was surprisingly busy. We decided to move quickly, knowing that the infamous “urbex bus” could arrive at any moment.

The villa itself absolutely blew me away. Even the large entrance gate to the property had a thatched roof. There was a garage with a car lift, high-end furniture throughout the building, partly gold-plated fittings, fabric-covered walls, and parquet floors that must once have shone like a mirror. The swimming pool was designed like a jungle grotto — an almost surreal touch of luxury.

Sadly, vandals had already done significant damage. Valuable items had been stolen, and the walls were covered with poorly executed graffiti.

While we were taking our photos, even more people arrived and started roaming through the house. We hurried even more, and when we heard someone flying a drone over the property, we decided it was time to leave. At that point, there were around 20 other people inside the building — not all of them behaving responsibly. There was shouting, smoking, and littering, all things we deliberately avoid on our tours. For us, respect for these places is essential.

With so much illegal activity in a high-end residential neighborhood, there was also a real risk of neighbors calling the police — something that had reportedly happened there more than once.

So we left the site, leaving the “amateurs” and “idiots” behind, and headed off to our next location.

Looking back, it’s a shame that the place was so crowded that we couldn’t explore it in peace. But I’m still glad we went. Just a year and a half later, the villa was completely demolished.

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Tour Report: Soviet Airfield S.

As the final stop of our summer trip in 2020, my wife and I decided to return to the former Soviet airfield S., about four years after our first visit.

Back then, time had been short. We had only managed to explore the hangars and a few surrounding buildings. This time, we wanted to take things a bit slower and use the opportunity to explore more of the former garrison area.

The surroundings of the airfield had changed noticeably in the years since our last visit. A busy commercial zone had developed nearby, full of movement and everyday activity. Yet our old parking spot was still there — the same one we had used four years earlier, right next to the narrow footpath leading onto the airfield grounds. There was still no fence, no gate, nothing to suggest that access had changed. Reports from other photographers supported this impression, so we made our way in calmly and without haste.

We consciously skipped the buildings we already knew from our first visit in order to focus on new areas. It was another extremely hot midsummer day, and anyone familiar with former Soviet garrisons knows how vast these places can be. The distances between buildings are long, the paths exposed. Having at least a rough plan felt important — even if it was clear that we would inevitably deviate from it. After all, abandoned places have a habit of pulling you in unexpected directions.

Our exploration began in the large dining hall and the adjoining kitchen. From there, we moved on to the sports hall, discovered a small theater, and eventually stood in front of the well-known mural of Plotbot Ken. In another building, we unexpectedly came across yet another small theater, complete with stage and rows of seating — one of those quiet finds that make places like this so compelling.

We then spent some time wandering through the outdoor areas. Even in the height of summer, the grounds carried a distinct, almost post-apocalyptic atmosphere that we wanted to capture in our photographs.

Throughout the entire visit, we were completely alone. No other explorers, no workers, no passersby. In the oppressive midday heat, even birds and insects seemed to fall silent. The stillness gave the place a strangely suspended feeling, as if time itself had slowed down.

With a long walk still ahead of us, we eventually had to leave some areas unexplored. Even so, it turned into a deeply atmospheric and rewarding tour through this vast and fascinating site.

According to my information, the airfield was declared an official redevelopment area in February of this year, and initial steps toward preparing the site have already begun. A provider of lost-place photo tours removed the airfield from its program in March, which suggests that change is imminent. Looking back, our visit in the summer of 2020 was most likely our last chance to experience this place in its abandoned state.

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Tour Report: The Villa on the Edge of Town

The day after exploring the "Green School", we didn't want to drive too far. The weather was still really hot, and we had a barbecue planned for the evening, so we looked for something in the area. We decided to check out an old villa that was only about 30 minutes away from our vacation spot. So after a nice breakfast, we packed our gear and got on the way. The friends that explored the air-raid shelter together with us were also with us.

As I've said, the place wasn't too far. And conveniently enough, there was a supermarket and various other shops almost right next door to the villa, so there was a huge parking lot where we could park our cars and not arise any suspicion.

From the parking lot, we only had to walk a few meters; then we were standing in front of the property. The walls of the ground floor of the villa were almost fully covered with ivy, and the property itself was completely overgrown, just as we had expected after looking at the place in Google Maps. Only a few paths were passable, showing that visitors repeatedly found their way onto the property and into the villa.

We followed the path to the backside of the building and found an open door right away.

The building was mostly empty, and we could see that many "visitors" apparently hadn't been kind to the old villa. There was a lot of vandalism - broken tile stoves, graffiti on the walls, and trash and leftover furniture scattered on the floor.

But there was also some nice decay, and I was particularly impressed by the few remaining Art Nouveau elements.

We spent a little over an hour and a half in the building before heading back to the cars to explore another location before making our way home.

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Mold's Tavern

On the sixth day of our 2020 summer vacation, our route took us eastward. We had planned to spend the second half of our holiday with our dear friends at the husky farm and take day trips from there.

On the way, we took the opportunity to visit a location quite well known in the urbex scene – the so-called “Schimmelwirt”, which roughly translates as “Moldy Landlord.” It’s an inn that was built around 1890 and has stood vacant for many years following severe water damage.

Our plan required a small detour, but the wonderful summer weather made it more than worthwhile. The drive led us through the Weser Uplands – a landscape of rolling green hills and lush meadows. Beyond that, the road continued into a vast conservation area, characterized by deep forests and wide, unspoiled fields. Numerous ranches and stud farms in the region attract day-trippers and tourists alike.

Our destination lay on the southern edge of a small village, almost exactly halfway between our first stop and the husky farm. Fewer than 250 people live there.

The building stands directly beside the country road. On its eastern side are a few occupied houses, and there are more residential buildings across the street – which naturally increased the risk of being noticed.

There was no discreet place to park. However, since it was the middle of the week, we assumed most residents would be at work. So we took the chance and parked right in the inn’s own parking lot.

Almost immediately, we spotted an open door at the back of the building. We grabbed our gear from the car and got to work. Entering through the door, our first impression was disappointing: the room we stepped into looked more like a garage, cluttered with trash. But that disappointment didn’t last long – another door led from there into the heart of the inn.

Of course, we had seen photos of the place before, but we were still surprised to find that the first dining area showed almost no signs of decay. The inn must have been popular and lively in its heyday; we found dozens of commemorative plaques from local clubs that had celebrated their anniversaries there over the years.

Decorative items and even music cassettes were still scattered around, and an opened bottle of Linie Aquavit stood in the cake refrigerator.

From the bar area, we moved into another dining room – and here it became obvious how the place had earned its nickname. The water damage had truly taken its toll: plaster had crumbled from the ceiling and lay on the tables, wooden panels had come loose overhead, and the walls, though still paneled, had warped from the damp. Black and green mold covered almost every surface.

Interestingly, this level of decay was largely confined to that one area and to some of the rooms directly above it. The rest of the building – including the guest rooms – was in surprisingly good condition. Some parts had naturally suffered from years of neglect, but others still looked as if they could welcome new guests at any moment. The furnishings, of course, are far from modern – they evoke a charming nostalgia, a time capsule of the 1980s.

After about two hours of exploring, we had seen everything. We took a short break by the car and then set off again – after all, we wanted to reach the husky farm in time for dinner!

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