Tour Report: Nauen Transmitter Station

This place is not really abandoned, but is nevertheless very interesting. These are the huge antennas of the world's oldest continuously operated broadcasting station. As we still had some time after our visit to the knacker's yard and the station was on the route we still had ahead of us, we decided to make a brief stop here.

We could see the huge antennas from far away, but getting close wasn't easy. Some of the roads leading to the area are blocked by barriers or gates, so we had to drive around a bit until we found a path that led us to one of the antennas.

We even found a hole in the fence that allowed us to get a bit closer to the impressive structure.

Since the place was still active, we only stayed for a few minutes and took only a couple of pictures to avoid discovery.

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

Tour Report: The Pet Crematory

On the second day of our short tour in February 2020, we explored a rather unspectacular place in a rural area of eastern Germany. I had marked it on a map years before that, but we were never near enough to check it out.

The place is a knacker's yard - also known as an “animal carcass processing plant” in official jargon. 

The site could be recognized from afar by the large chimney. However, the search for a parking space proved difficult. There is a residential area nearby, and with our license plate from “far away” we would certainly have stood out in front of the location.

So we parked a long way away and walked the rest of the way. The area had been fenced in at some point, but the fence was only rudimentary, so we made our way without any problems.

Only walls or supporting beams remained of some of the buildings. The rest were full of graffiti and some rooms were very littered. So this exploration was not particularly fun. At least the incinerator was still there as a motif.

After about half an hour, we heard voices. A group of teenagers had obviously chosen the site as their personal adventure playground and were making a lot of noise. That was the signal for us to leave, especially as we had already seen everything and wanted to visit more locations that day.

So we set off and left the premises, giving one or two teenagers a good scare with our mere presence.

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

Tour Report: Vacation Camp "Beds of Decay"

I have to say: in terms of decay, this abandoned vacation camp was a real hit. We hadn't even planned to visit - in fact, we didn't even know this place existed. We had met two people at the location we had visited first that day, got talking to them and they gave us the tip to visit this vacation camp.

The route there wasn't really far, which suited us well, as we had spent a lot of time in the old foundry and didn't want to spend too much time on the road given the still short daylight hours. 

We were on site in just 15 minutes. However, the search for a parking space proved to be somewhat difficult, as there were almost none. The residential area only offered enough space for - the residents. So we had to search a bit until we found a parking space, and we had to walk a few minutes to get to the old vacation camp.

The camp is located in the middle of a residential area. There are residential buildings to the north, south and west, and the eastern area is almost impassable due to the forest and dense vegetation.

It was therefore virtually impossible to enter the site without the risk of being discovered by the neighbors.

So we did what we usually do: find an entrance and go in. The outside area of the camp was so big that we would be seen anyway. 

There was an “open” path onto the site and we just walked straight into it.

There were several small cabins and a larger communal building with a large kitchen. First we looked around the huts. The long vacancy in combination with the rather light construction of the huts had caused some fantastic decay. There was hardly any vandalism - probably due to the location in the middle of the residential area.

Even pillows and blankets were still available on the double bunk beds - but no longer recommended for an overnight stay ;)

In the outdoor area we found the obligatory concrete table tennis table, which we felt existed in every GDR vacation camp. Time had covered it with a beautiful carpet of moss.

Unfortunately, the communal building no longer lived up to the promise of the other buildings - one part had already collapsed, the vandals had already struck, and the local teenagers seemed to be using the building as a substitute for a club.

As we left the property, we saw a neighbor watching us from the property across the street. We greeted him kindly and politely, and he asked if we had taken any photos, to which we replied in the affirmative. We struck up a conversation with him and he was at least able to tell us that the vacation camp belonged to a large leather factory in Saxony-Anhalt. Unfortunately, as he wasn't from the area himself, he couldn't tell us much more. Nevertheless, it was a very nice conversation, which once again showed that openness and friendliness usually go a long way. 

After this positive conclusion to our exploration, we made our way back to the hotel to get going again in good time so that we wouldn't have so much trouble finding a restaurant that day...

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