The Highway Hotel

This spot came to us a surprise and became the unplanned second spot on our summer vacation last year. Originally, we had planned to visit the remains of an old ironworks somewhere in the Harz mountains. We knew the address, but when we got there, there were people walking around the place. Upon asking one of them if we could take some photos, he denied us permission and we had to leave.
Across the street was the ironworks' former administration building, which also looked pretty interesting, but there was no way to gain access. It didn't look like it was going to be a successful exploration...
Back at the car, we were smoking a cigarette and looking at the map where to go next when I looked to the right and saw that we had parked right in front of something abandoned. I quickly checked the place out and walked through the bushes around the walls and found an open window right away.
I went back to the car, we had a quick tactical meeting and then we hopped in.
As we walked through the rooms and hallways, it became obsious that this was an old hotel. Some of the things I saw seemed oddly familiar and after a couple of minutes it became clear that this was a place that I had seen on photos before and that I'd always wanted to visit, but never had found out where it was.
This was one of the moments that show me again and again what is really great about urban exploring: finding the places yourself, going through the world with open eyes and discovering the past that's hiding behind every corner...


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.