Tour Report: Gunpowder Factory "Sands of War"

Just two days after our discovery of the World War II execution site, we were already on our next excursion. Once again, the CoViD rules meant that only one tour was possible within the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. The weather was cloudy, but at least no rain was forecast, so we made our way to the “Besenhorster Sandbergen”, a nature reserve about 120 kilometers away, which is characterized by its dry, calcareous sandy grassland, its dunes and silver grass meadows as well as its old oak forests. 

Of course, we didn't just want to go there because of the beautiful nature, but there are also a few things to see there that will make your Urbex heart beat a little faster. There are numerous ruins of the former Düneberg powder factory on the grounds of the nature reserve.

Parts of the powder factory were built there as early as 1876. From 1935 to the beginning of April 1945, raw powder from the Krümmel dynamite factory was processed here into various types of powder and ballistically tested.

After the Second World War, production and storage buildings were blown up. The ruins are overgrown by the pine forest of the Besenhorster Sandberge and Elbsandwiesen, but are still partly visible and accessible.

As this is a local recreation area open to the public, we didn't have to search long for an unsuspicious parking space and were able to set off straight away. We took our time and walked around the large area almost in its entirety. Spring had bathed the area in a wonderful green, and the ruins blended into the landscape like remnants of a bygone era.

Contrary to our assumption, there were a few drops of rain while we were out and about - but we didn't let that bother us and took a short break in the former workshop building of the powder factory.

After a good three hours, we had finished our tour, walked along the Elbe for a short while and then made our way home.

Even though it's not an “exciting” location with spectacular motifs, I really enjoyed this excursion because I find the combination of ruins and nature really appealing and beautiful.

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

Tour Report: Shooting Range "Swamp of the Dead"

At the beginning of May 2020, we received a tip from a friend that there were “a few abandoned brick buildings somewhere on the moor”. She had found them on a walk. Well okay. So we had a quick look on Google Maps, and lo and behold - there were actually a few walls in a swampy wooded area. As we couldn't make out exactly what they were, we set off to have a look around. We only had to drive for about half an hour to get close to the location. As there is an allotment site opposite the forest, we parked a little further away and set off. When we arrived at the woodland, we could immediately see a massive brick wall. The fence separating the site from the road had been kicked down so far that it was almost non-existent, so we had little hesitation in looking around further.

The brick wall was just that - just a wall. A very thick brick wall. There was a passage to the other side, and from there it was immediately clear what it was: a military firing range. The wall was the bullet trap, and behind it the earth walls of the range were clearly visible. The fact that the bullet trap was made of bricks and not concrete indicated that the firing range had not been built during the Second World War, but probably in Prussian times.

However, a concrete wall next to the old shooting range indicated that it had been extended and also used during the Third Reich.

We did not inspect the concrete wall more closely as it marks the boundary to the neighboring property, from which some chickens had already escaped into the area of the shooting range during our visit and we feared that the owner would catch us trying to collect them again.

The brick walls, however, were very interesting in themselves. They were quite damaged from the shelling (and presumably 80 years of weathering) but made for an interesting sight.

More on a silly whim, I said I'd see if I could find anything else, bent down and dug around in the rubble - and after less than 30 seconds found a piece of stone with a bullet embedded in it!

Unfortunately, the lanes themselves were very boggy - the whole area is a bog, and the weather in the weeks before had been very wet, so the whole place was more than just muddy.

As we made our way back to the car at the end of our exploration, we saw that there was a man working on the neighboring property. The appearance of both the man and the property indicated a certain hermit, prepper and self-sufficient mentality - a combination that is not necessarily conducive to communication after illegal trespassing.

We tried anyway, introduced ourselves nicely and asked if he could tell us anything about the property next door. When he said that it was his property, we apologized for trespassing and told him about the broken fence. He said that teenagers destroyed that fence so often that he doesn't even want to fix it anymore. He seemed to be okay with us trespassing on the old shooting range, but "complained" a bit that we hadn't brought the escaped chickes with us.

Then he told us something that sent a chill down our spine:

The shooting range wasn't just a shooting range - during World War II, it had also been an execution site, where forced laborers, deserters and other delinquents were executed. Often the bodies of the victims were not even taken away, but simply buried in the earth walls of the range. Apparently, these bodies have never been removed. For this reason, he said, these walls are listed as historical monuments. He also spoke of a memorial stone that apparently has sunk into the bog over the years.

He then mentioned that there should be a sort of bunker on the premises that he hadn't discovered yet.

We can't say if anything of what he said is true - but fact is that we couldn't find any information regarding the old shooting range. Public information is often withheld to keep the "wrong people" away - and possibly in this case to keep them from literally digging up the bones from the past.

In any case, we had an interesting talk with the guy - of course not without the tirade against the current government that is quite common in these circles. A price that we had expected to pay when we started the conversation.

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

Tour Report: Brick Factory A.

In mid-April 2020, the coronavirus pandemic had Germany firmly in its grip. The first nationwide lockdown had been in place for around four weeks, and it was expected to last a good two weeks before the first slight easing.

It was spring - a very sunny spring with correspondingly high temperatures; Easter a week earlier had even brought a few summer days with it.

In the three weeks since our last tour, we had hardly left our yard, so we were anxious to get out of the house again. I looked for a place to go - not too far, since due to the lockdwon, we weren't allowed to leave the state - and came across a brick factory that I had visited once in 2014. The news said that the property had been sold and was soon to be developed.

So we decided to pay a revisit to this place.

It was a short drive - after just under an hour we were there and looking for a parking space. It was quickly found. There were a few commercial buildings at the eastern end of the brickworks site, and as it was Sunday, the parking lots were empty and available to us. To get onto the site, we just had to climb over a small embankment - and we were standing right in front of the brickworks' materials warehouse.

We explored the entire place with the exception of the manufacturer's villa, which was unfortunately completely locked and secured.

Due to the beautiful weather, we took our time and explored the whole site at our leisure.

I particularly liked two motifs on this trip: the materials store with the little “houses” and the room with the water basin where the clay for the bricks was prepared. The water in the basin shimmered in the sunlight in all sorts of bright colors - probably due to algae, perhaps also due to pollution or contaminated soil.

Towards the end, we met two other people who had used the beautiful day to escape the confines of the lockdown - other than that we were completely alone the entire time. It was a nice short trip and a good opportunity to get out of the house again.

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

Tour Report: The Theater of Nature

At the beginning of April 2020, Germany was in the middle of the first CoViD lockdown. However, our need for wild garlic did not want to be subordinated to this regulation, so we set off to our traditional collection point in defiance of death, so to speak.

From the end of February to the end of April (depending on when the flowering season begins) you can harvest fantastic wild garlic around the then abandoned open-air stage - there are fields of it there! And in the end, it's only about an hour's drive through the beautiful northern German countryside.

So we set off and parked the car in the legal parking lot, which was also used by other collectors. However, we must have had a good day because there was very little going on. We met the occasional walker and a few wild garlic collectors, so we had our peace and quiet when we finally entered the deserted open-air stage.

I can't help myself - even though the motif is the same every time, it's a little different every time - be it the weather, the light or the amount of plants that have spread out between the rows of seats.

So of course I took a few pictures. The area is now in use again - but I'll report on that in the next post from this location - so it may take a while ;)

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

Tour Report: Nuclear Weapons Depot K.

About two weeks after the start of the first CoViD lockdown in March 2020, the ceiling started to fall on our heads. It was time for us to get out again, so we set off.
As it wasn't allowed to leave the state and contact with other people was potentially harmful, we looked for a far-flung location nearby.
Our choice fell on the abandoned American nuclear weapons depot, which we had visited several times in the past - mostly to celebrate New Year's Eve with light painting in one of the large weapons bunkers.
The last time we explored the site in daylight was in May 2013, about seven years earlier.

As every time, we parked next to the barrier that originally marked the border to the outer protective area of the weapons camp. From there, it is about a two-kilometre walk to the armory and the weapons bunkers.

As the site is an official recreational area, you can move around without any problems and don't have to worry about being bothered by security guards or the police. We soon realized that we weren't the only ones who wanted to take advantage of the old military site for an excursion with as little contact as possible.

The weather was sunny and you could literally smell that spring was in the starting blocks, just waiting to get going. Of course, some families took advantage of this beautiful day to go on excursions, as far as they were possible and permitted.

People were relatively well spread out on the large grounds, so that we didn't meet many other people and we had our peace and quiet. And we made the most of this peace and quiet, taking plenty of time to explore every corner of the site. I don't remember how long we were out and about, but I think it was probably a good two to three hours before we made our way back to the car and drove home.

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

Tour Report: School "Eastern Engineering"

The last location we explored on our tour before the first CoViD lockdown in March 2020 was originally built as a military barracks. It was only after the war that the tank garages were converted into classrooms. A residential building was also added for the apprentices of the local steelworks. From the mid-1950s, the ensemble of buildings then served as an engineering school.

The area around the school is mostly wooded and not easily visible, so we were able to get close enough by car without being spotted. Of course, we still parked a little further away so as not to attract too much attention.

There wasn't really a fence, so we were able to seep in unhindered, so to speak.

When we entered the first building, we were immediately disappointed. Most areas of the school had been almost completely vandalized. There was graffiti everywhere - most of it of no artistic value whatsoever. Windows had been smashed, doors and walls had been kicked in, and the cable thieves had also left their mark.

So there was relatively little natural decay and correspondingly few worthwhile photo opportunities. Only the auditorium with its large stage and paneled ceiling still showed that the school was once a prestigious educational institution.

And so, after a relatively short time, we made our way home. We only found out later that there is also supposed to be a bunker on the site - but who knows, maybe there will be an opportunity for another visit at some point in the future...

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