Tour Report: Railway Repair Factory "Fields of Green"

This abandoned former railway repair workshop was the last location we visited during our summer vacation in 2019.

As we still had a few kilometers to go by car, we started relatively early and made our way to the old industrial ruin.

The site is located directly on a busy road with plenty of parking spaces, so we quickly found a parking space and were able to look around for an entrance. We found it very quickly, as the main gate was open. There were no prohibition signs or anything like that, so we were able to stroll into the grounds without a care in the world.

First we took a look at the remaining outdoor facilities, then we set about exploring the factory halls.

Unfortunately, a photographer and his model were also passing the time in the factory halls, so that we were not completely undisturbed and had to interrupt our walk again and again to wait for the photographer to get the picture in the box. What often annoys me about this kind of thing is that "model photographers" expect you to wait until they are finished with their pictures - but they themselves don't seem to be able to do this and march right through the middle of the picture without any ifs or buts and start setting up their stuff.

Well, you're above it all and can overlook other people's character flaws without letting them spoil your mood.

In any case, we took all the time we needed to really take a close look at every factory hall. We particularly liked the vegetation inside the halls. Most of the rooms were decorated with varying degrees of vegetation - sometimes just bushes and ferns, but sometimes also real trees. We are always amazed at how nature reclaims the old industrial halls!

After a good two hours, we had finished our exploration and made our way to a dear friend's house where we were going to spend the last night of our vacation.

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

Tour Report: The Hearse in the Factory

On the way back from Walter's House, we took the opportunity to check out a place that we'd been wanting to see for a long time. Well, it wasn't so much the place we wanted to see, but what was waiting for us inside. Behind the unassuming walls of the old factory building is an object that has defied the ravages of time for many years. Behind an iron gate and thick concrete walls, the old hearse only gets a visit from photographers every now and then.

But one after the other.

We knew where the carriage was - fortunately, because we would never have suspected it to be in the old factory building by ourselves. 

The building is located on a busy street near other businesses, so we had to find a more distant parking space and walk the rest of the way.

On the premises, we managed to avoid the passing factory traffic, so after a short time we were standing in front of the entrance. We squeezed through the gap in the door and stood directly in front of the object of desire!

The room was "dark as a bear's ass", as they say in our country, only through two higher windows some light fell. To take reasonable pictures under these conditions is not so easy, as I had to realize, but in the end I managed.

After we had photographed the hearse from all possible perspectives, we took a look at the factory building next door. There wasn't much to see there - except a small carpet of moss and grass.

Afterwards we made our way back to the hotel and were happy about another successful tour!

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

Tour Report: "Walter's House"

On a tour of  the German state of Thuringia during our summer vacation 2019, we decided to take a look at the "Secret of Oberhof" - the former guest house of the GDR Council of Ministers and probably one of the buildings most closely monitored by the Stasi in the GDR.

It was a gloomy, rainy day, but we don't let bad weather dampen our spirits, so we drove from Erfurt through the Thuringian Forest to the famous winter sports town of Oberhof. The way to the former luxury resort of the GDR ministers was easy, and a parking lot was also quickly found. We only had to walk a few meters along the road until we came to the road junction that led us to the hotel.

There was no fence or other barriers, only a triangular concrete barrier to prevent driving on the property.

The buildings themselves were wide open; there weren't really any doors or windows anymore, and the vandals and metal thieves have done a great job over the years. Presumably, after the final closure of the hotel in 1990, citizens of the former GDR also helped themselves to parts of the luxurious EInrichtung.
Thus, during our visit, there was not much left to see of the splendor in which the GDR leaders as well as the Chairman of the Council of State himself had spent their vacations.

Nevertheless, we took a complete look at the building, because in the end it is a relic of the German separation, which will probably not exist in this form for much longer.

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

Tour Report: Sanatorium "Crooked"

The collapsed roof with the three gable windows was a scene that I had wanted to photograph for a really long time, and after we had explored the knight's manor, the relative proximity gave us the opportunity to look for an entrance to the old sanatorium.

The site, picturesquely situated on the edge of a small forest, is bordered on the north and south by new residential development, which makes access from these sides almost impossible - or at least reckless.

So we looked for an appropriately secluded parking spot so as not to attract the suspicion of local residents. From there, we sneaked a little off the forest paths through the woods and finally found an area of the fence that had been trampled down and was even completely missing in parts.

From there, we entered the site nicely concealed, without being seen from the residential buildings.

One can still guess how beautiful this sanatorium with its park-like grounds must once have been; today, decay and a whole lot of graffiti dominate the scene in the old walls.

The green of summer and the yellow of the afternoon sun helped somewhat to overlook the graffiti, even though it was omnipresent.

The main subject, however, was just as spectacular as I had imagined. To me, it's a perfect picture of natural decay as it should look. The collapsed roof and the three gable windows that seem to be leaning against each other, working together to delay the impending collapse. The whole thing framed by a cloudy blue sky and green nature - it's still one of my favorite urbex scenes.

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

Tour Report: Knight's Manor "Blue Sky"

In August 2019, we visited an object that we had long had on our list, but never had the opportunity to visit until this point. It is an old manor whose history goes back a long way. The villa, to which the title "manor" has passed, was built in the late 19th century.

Initially used as an industrialist's villa, over time the building underwent many new uses - as a planned mothers' recreation home, as a Reich Labor Service camp, as a Red Army military hospital, as a school for judges, as a school for the FDJ travel agency, and as a pioneer leadership school.

After a fire devastated the attic in the summer of 2018 and the firefighting efforts caused further damage, we knew that the days of this beautiful building were numbered and included it in our plan for the next summer vacation.

It was a warm day and the journey was uneventful. However, finding a decent parking spot not too far from the property was significantly more difficult. We ended up parking somewhat awkwardly on the edge of an allotment. There were already a few other cars parked there, so we could hope not to attract further attention.

From there we walked along the road until we reached the wooded area that was once part of the magnificent park that surrounded the manor. Through this now very dense forest we crept up to the building from the back. We could hear that the farmed part of the estate was busy, so we kept extremely quiet as we searched for an entrance into the building. Fortunately, there was an open door that was out of sight and hidden by trees.

When we entered the building, we were on the one hand impressed by the princely looking rooms, but on the other hand a little disappointed, because due to the fire many rooms did not look like we had seen in older photos.

The main subject, however - the staircase - was still in quite good condition despite the fire and the extinguishing work. For this, the trip had been more than worth it! Even the ceiling painting, a blue sky with a stylized sun in the center, was still there apart from some damage.

In other rooms, the extinguishing water had caused quite nice decay, so that we could make our way to the next locaton with a good yield of pictures in our luggage.

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