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.

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

Tour Report: Soviet Communications Base L.

After exploring the Stasi bunker earlier that day, we set out to investigate another Cold War relic. We had suggested this location to our friend Jürgen, who simply replied, “I didn’t even know there was a bunker out there – why do the folks from Kiel have to show up before we find these things?”

So this was uncharted territory for all of us.

Our destination was a communications bunker built in the 1960s by the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. It’s tucked away on the edge of a vast forest in Brandenburg, an area that once served as a major military training ground.

Because of the remote setting, finding a discreet place to park was already a challenge. Eventually we found a spot, though uncomfortably close to a small residential settlement. We suspected we might draw some attention - and at least one very loud guard dog certainly noticed us. Its barking echoed across the entire area as we stepped out of the car. We hurried into the woods, hoping to avoid further notice.

With temperatures above 35°C, the walk quickly turned into a minor endurance test - especially since we always wear long pants and sometimes even jackets, even in midsummer, to protect ourselves from thorns, ticks, and anything else a forest might throw at us.

Our GPS guided us reliably through the forest, though the route itself was anything but straight. We weaved our way forward in loose zigzags until we finally reached the first structures of the former facility.

We started at the above-ground buildings: the guardhouse, the staff building, and the heating plant. Despite heavy vandalism, plenty of traces of the Soviet era were still visible - wall paintings, maps, even pieces of clothing and old boots scattered around.

But our main goal was the communications bunker. Since we didn’t know its exact position within the site, we had to search for a bit. Eventually we found the structure, including its entrances - one of which was open.

The bunker’s interior was in poor shape. Cable thieves and vandals had clearly been busy over the years. It wasn’t a pretty sight, although a few control panels and massive cable conduits still gave hints of the bunker’s original purpose.

Nevertheless, we had achieved our primary mission: we had found the bunker.

We wanted to locate the remaining parts of the complex as well: a small USB-type bunker, the emergency power bunker, and the two switching cauldrons rumored to be somewhere on the grounds. So we continued the search.

Suddenly, a white van drove onto the site! Our immediate impression was that the driver was looking for us, especially when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. That was our cue to leave - quickly. Not only was the terrain fenced off, but we were also trespassing in a forest area under the highest wildfire alert level. Both a potential security patrol and the forestry authority would have had good reason to question what we were doing there.

So we made a tactical retreat - straight back to the cars and out of there!

This way, the second part of our trip ended sooner than planned, and by the time we reached the vehicles, we were drenched in sweat from sprinting through the sweltering forest.

Still, it was an incredible day—two fascinating locations and the best company one could ask for!

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

Bunker of the East German State Security S.

As our 2020 summer holiday slowly drew to an end, we still had a few places on our list—spots we’d been meaning to check out before heading home. Two of them were remnants of the Cold War, and we had arranged to meet our good friend Jürgen for a small exploration.

Our first destination that day was an unfinished bunker complex once planned for the Verwaltung Rückwärtige Dienste (Administration Support Services) of the East German Ministry for State Security (MfS, Stasi). Hidden in the forest near a former MfS holiday retreat, the bunker had been under construction since 1987, but work came to a halt after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.

We met Jürgen as planned at the access road of what is now a cluster of holiday apartments. From there, we continued on foot. After a short walk, we reached the old holiday facilities once used by Stasi employees. The buildings today are little more than gutted shells, yet it’s easy to understand why people would have spent their vacations here—the location, deep in the woods and right by a lake, is genuinely peaceful.

But the bunker was what we had come for, so we moved on. Another stretch through the forest brought us to a large hall made of corrugated metal panels. At first glance it looked like an ordinary warehouse—except for the fact that it stood alone in the middle of the woods.

Inside, at the southern end, we found a “building within a building” structure. Entering it led us to the mouth of a 65-meter access tunnel made of prefabricated concrete segments. The tunnel opened into one half of a connecting corridor belonging to a Type 1/15/V2 bunker - an installation usually intended as an alternate command site for central and district-level authorities. This particular bunker was the last of its kind ever started in the GDR, and it was never completed.

The interior was mostly empty. A basic lighting system had been installed, and the water storage tanks were already in place. A few crates with Cyrillic markings remained, presumably used during the construction phase, and all pressure- and gas-tight doors had been mounted. We also stumbled across some metal bed frames, though it’s hard to tell whether they were brought in during the build or dumped there later.

One thing that stood out was the lack of graffiti. For a place like this, the walls were surprisingly untouched. Maybe the site had stayed off the radar for years—or perhaps it had simply been secured better in the past.

We took our time exploring the corridors and chambers. Outside, temperatures were well above 35°C, and the bunker’s cool air made the visit even more pleasant. Eventually, we made our way back to the car, ready to move on to the next location on our route.

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

Tour Report: Chateau "Ornament"

Exploring this place was one of those moments that stay with you for a long time.

During our summer vacation in 2020, my wife and I visited the abandoned mansion of a former knight’s estate. Some time before, I had stumbled upon a few photos of its exterior and learned that it had most likely been vacant since the fall of the Berlin Wall. From the outside alone, it already radiated a strange kind of quiet dignity.

We hadn’t seen a single photo of the interior, so we had no idea what awaited us inside. Before heading there, we studied the area on Google Maps, trying to plan our approach as carefully as possible.

At the front, the property bordered a small neighborhood with still-inhabited houses. People lived there. Curtains moved behind windows. Approaching from that side was clearly not an option.

At the back, the grounds extended into a wooded area - but the way from there would have been long and inconvenient, and we weren’t even sure if we’d find a place to leave the car.

That left only one realistic option: a farm located on the neighboring land. It wasn’t ideal, and there was always the risk of being noticed. But since it was a Tuesday, we hoped that luck - and a quiet workday - might be on our side.

And it was.

We found a small parking spot on a side road near the farm. Everything was quiet. No one seemed to be around. With a slight mix of excitement and nervousness, we made our way onto the property.

Finding an entrance took a few minutes. The summer heat was intense, the air heavy and still. Every step through the dry leaves sounded painfully loud, as if the whole world could hear us. For a moment, we froze - but no one came. No dogs barked. No doors opened.

Finally, we slipped inside.

What we found there completely took our breath away.

Although the mansion was completely empty, it had somehow remained untouched by vandalism or graffiti. Sunlight filtered through dusty windows, revealing high arched ceilings, massive wooden doors, detailed stucco work, and incredibly ornate wood carvings.

The woodwork, in particular, fascinated us. From the finely carved wall panels to the decorated columns and stair railings, everything told a story of craftsmanship that simply doesn’t exist like that anymore.

My personal highlight was a huge wooden door, roughly 3 by 2 meters in size, covered in intricate carvings. Standing in front of it felt almost unreal - like facing a relic from another era.

We spent nearly two hours wandering through the building, quietly moving from room to room, trying to absorb every detail before leaving the same way we had entered.

Fortunately, from the photos I’ve seen in recent years, the place seems to have remained mostly unchanged. And who knows - maybe one day we’ll return, just to feel that atmosphere again.

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

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.

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

Tour Report: The Green School

We had had this location on our list for quite some time, but never had the opportunity to visit it until our summer vacation in 2020. The abandoned school in Saxony had been empty for over 15 years at that point. For most of that time, it lay virtually untouched in a deep slumber; the first pictures had appeared online only a few years before our visit. On the eve of our excursion, there was a barbecue at the husky farm, and our host's two (adult) grandchildren had expressed a desire to accompany us on the tour – a wish we were happy to grant. The two had already accompanied us on a trip a few months earlier, and we were delighted to have the extra company again.

So we set off in the morning after breakfast. The journey took us about an hour and a half. The abandoned school is located in the middle of a residential area, so we first had to find a parking space. While it was still relatively cool when we left, we realized when we got out of the car that it was going to be another really hot day. It was still morning, but the thermometer was already showing 30 degrees Celsius.

The next step was to find an entrance to the abandoned building.

Many of the windows on the ground floor were boarded up with thick wooden planks, and entering from the street would have been very conspicuous anyway. So we walked around the building and looked for an entrance in the courtyard. The courtyard was completely overgrown after so long. We had to search for a long time, but then we discovered an open window that led to the basement. To get to this window, we had to cross a ditch next to the building. It was in the shade, which made it very damp and partly muddy, and as a result, there seemed to be billions of mosquitoes there.

Behind the basement window, it was quite a long way down, but someone had been kind enough to leave a ladder there so that we could climb down without too much trouble.

We began our exploration from this basement room.

Unfortunately, there weren't many remnants of the school's former use, such as school desks, blackboards, and chairs—the school was basically swept clean. In this respect, most of the rooms were relatively uninteresting from a photographic point of view. However, the large main staircase, which gave the school its “stage name,” was really a great sight. The sunlight did the rest to set this area off beautifully. The sports hall with its large windows and parquet flooring also provided a beautiful motif – even though a few teenagers had once gone to great lengths to destroy this place with a bonfire.

In total, we spent about two hours exploring every room in the old school. Then we left the building the same way we had entered it and made our way back to the husky farm.

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