Tour Report: Anti-Aircraft Missile Site FRA-134

As the last location on our tour of various Cold War relics in northeastern Germany in October 2020, my buddy Andreas and I explored the remains of an anti-aircraft missile unit of the National People's Army of the GDR.

From the abandoned maintenance unit at the former Soviet air base, it was just over 30 kilometers to the former site of the GDR air defense.

The site is located a good distance outside the nearest town and can be reached via an old paved road. We found a parking spot right at the entrance and set out to explore the grounds.

First, we reached the accommodation area and the service and utility buildings. Unfortunately, we discovered that cable thieves and local vandals had done a thorough job – it really wasn't a pretty sight, so I didn't even bother taking any photos inside these buildings.

Passing a large vehicle hall, we made our way through the now heavily overgrown grounds to the command post. This consists of a garage bunker with six garages built next to each other, connected at the rear by a cross corridor, as well as two smaller annexes.

Here, too, we were confronted with a scene of destruction: the exterior is covered in graffiti, the garage doors have been torn out, as has the electrical installation inside the bunker.

On the bunker hill, we discovered the location of the “PW cabin,” the missile guidance radar of the S-75 “Volchov” anti-aircraft missile complex.

It was getting late, so we decided not to search the heavily wooded area for further relics and headed back.

On the way to the car, our assumption that the area was used by local youths as a party location was confirmed: a group of young people with mopeds and cars had gathered in the parking lot and were ending the weekend with music and drinks. It didn't look like they planned to take their trash with them...

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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.

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Tour Report: Goodbye, Lenin!

Lenin's head stands in an overgrown meadow in a small town in Brandenburg - alone, half-hidden behind a bush, as if history itself had become entangled here. The stone bust rises silently from the ground, almost absorbed by nature, and yet it is impossible to miss. The sight of it is irritating and captivating at the same time: in the middle of this hidden area, far from any official place of remembrance, it seems to be a fragment from another time - resistant, forgotten and yet unbrokenly present.

It is as if the head has found shelter in this place - a kind of silent exile after the end of the ideological age that once elevated it. The bushes and growing trees seem like a natural veil, like they are protecting something that does not want to be found. The fact that this memorial has survived hardly seems coincidental: since the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the region has been systematically cleared up - memorial plaques removed, statues toppled, traces erased. But here, in a no man's land between consciousness and oblivion, the head remains. Neither officially preserved nor destroyed, it seems to have stolen itself from the field of vision of time - like a silent witness waiting for something that will never happen again.

Not far away are a few residential buildings that were expropriated by the Soviet army after the Second World War. After reunification, they underwent extensive renovation and were converted into modern living spaces. Behind the largest building is a small green area with playground equipment - a place of everyday life. But behind it begins an undesigned wilderness left to its own devices. The bust lies right on the threshold between a cultivated habitat and a natural mess - without a pedestal, marked by decay. Its nose is damaged and a gaping hole in the back of its head reveals a hollow interior with only dried leaves and scattered pebbles. The view inside is sobering - and yet there is something mysterious about it, as if this place holds a secret that eludes quick access.

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Tour Report: Agricultural Seeds Center

The second place we had on our list for my wife's birthday tour in 2020 was only about five minutes away from the old cemetery we had visited first.

Here, too, there was a parking lot right outside the door, so to speak. However, the building - a former seeds station - is surrounded by a fairly large open space. It is therefore almost impossible to enter unnoticed. So we looked for a point on the path surrounding the site where the building was between us and the residential area opposite, so that we at least had the feeling that we wouldn't be seen immediately as we walked across the field.

When we arrived at the building, we immediately saw an open door through which we were granted access.

Given the exposed location and the fact that the location is relatively well-known, I wasn't expecting too much - but we were really pleasantly surprised. The vandalism was limited and we found many things that indicated the former use of the building: Magazines on agriculture and genetics, files on plant breeding and cross-breeding, various specialist literature, packing materials and a large quantity of coffee sacks.

Even a few technical devices had survived the long time of abandonment.

So after the old cemetery, this was the second location in a row where you could discover an incredible number of exciting details. Although many of them are not really relevant from a photographic point of view, they offer a great insight into the work that has been carried out on this site for almost a century.

Here, too, we took plenty of time to take it all in before making our way back to the car.

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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...

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Tour Report: Cultural Center "X"

This abandoned socialist event hall, or "Club House", was the final location on our tour through eastern Germany during our vacation in November 2019. We had seen the impressive building a couple of times before, as a highway runs right next to the site.

From the highway, we could already see that the neoclassical building was no longer in good shape - there were no windows to be seen and the building was covered in graffiti. So we didn't have high hopes, but we didn't want to miss the chance to take a look anyway.

We parked our car in a "parking lot" a little way behind the building. Presumably this was the former access road or parking lot of the cultural center - now it was used by a few truck drivers to take a nap. So we parked between a few trucks and didn't attract any attention.

There was no fence around the building, there were no signs warning us not to enter, and we quickly found an open door.
As expected, we were greeted by walls covered in graffiti. Unfortunately, they weren't even particularly artistic, but the typical "teenage graffiti". Nevertheless, we were impressed. The main hall of the former "clubhouse" was huge! There was a revolving stage, and in the early 2000s, various levels of concrete were added when plans were made to convert the building into a large disco - a plan that was never finally realized.

These concrete levels gave the main room (and other areas) a very modern and, in combination with the graffiti, somehow surreal appearance.
We climbed the many stairs to take photos from different angles. I admit: I got a little queasy when I moved around on the concrete floors built high up in the room - without railings...

But in the end, everything went well and we were able to complete our exploration without any casualties ;)

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