Tour Report: Soviet Maintenance Unit P.

And so we continue with our travelogue of our little excursion to some relics of the Cold War in eastern Germany. After exploring the command bunker at the airfield, we only had to walk a few meters east to reach our next location. Right next to the command bunker site are the remains of a Soviet maintenance unit. There is very little information about the site, but it can be assumed that, among other things, weapons for the Soviet Air Force units stationed at the airfield were maintained and prepared here.

I assume that the two areas used to be strictly separated, as I had seen in many Soviet properties—but almost 30 years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, this separation is no longer taken so seriously ;)

The grounds were easy to access, and we were able to move around freely.

We looked around the residential and service buildings and then explored the halls and garages. Unfortunately, there wasn't really much to see apart from a few Cyrillic inscriptions (“Pyrotechnician's workplace,” “Workplace for the installation, dismantling, and storage of the product”) that gave some indication of how the site was used.

As I said, there wasn't much left to see, so we set off again relatively quickly to take a look at another location.

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

Tour Report: Soviet Command Bunker 172 ОБВП

For our trip in early October 2020, my friend Andreas and I had put several Cold War relics in northeastern Germany on our list. After taking the opportunity to photograph an old mausoleum along the way, we headed straight for our first planned location.

Our destination was a former command bunker of the Soviet Air Forces. Originally, it had been constructed as the operations center of the 20th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment in Parchim, before later being repurposed as the command post of the 172nd Combat Helicopter Regiment - a small but telling example of how military infrastructure was adapted during the Cold War.

After roughly 45 minutes of driving, we reached the former Soviet military compound. It was easy to identify: a classic guardhouse at the entrance and a solid concrete perimeter wall left little doubt about the site’s past.

Parking directly in front of the main gate felt like a bad idea, so we left the car a bit farther away along a dirt road. According to our plan, this path should lead us around to the rear of the compound, from where we hoped to make our way inside and search for the bunker.

The plan worked out perfectly. The dirt road ran surprisingly close to the site, and before long we discovered a breach in the wall - part of it had collapsed, leaving a hole just large enough to climb through.

Since we had no precise information about the bunker’s location within the compound, we expected a lengthy search. That fear turned out to be unfounded: after only a short walk, we had already spotted the entrance.

With a floor area of roughly 150 square meters, the bunker itself is fairly unremarkable from an architectural point of view. It closely resembles other Cold War-era structures we’ve explored at former airfields. As was often the case when Soviet forces withdrew from East Germany, very few original items were left behind. This site was no exception. A handful of pieces of furniture were scattered around, though it’s hard to say whether they actually belonged to the bunker’s original equipment—at least the armchair struck me as rather doubtful.

After completing our exploration, we stepped back outside into the daylight.

There were several more abandoned buildings on the site waiting to be explored, so stay tuned - and look forward to the next post.

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

Tour Report: Mausoleum L.

On a warm, sunlit Sunday in late summer 2020, my friend Andreas and I were on the road in the north-east of Germany, once again following traces of a vanished world. Our original plan was firmly rooted in the Cold War: abandoned military infrastructure, forgotten installations, places once designed for conflict and control.

But as so often on trips like this, the most memorable stops are sometimes the unplanned ones.

While mapping out our route, we had noticed a small mausoleum dating back to the late 19th century. It lay almost directly along our way, close enough to justify a brief stop - especially under such perfect weather conditions. Just a few minutes from the motorway, we left the car in the quiet village and set off on foot.

The path led us away from the road and into a more secluded landscape. Between scattered trees, across a meadow still glowing in the morning light, and over a narrow stream, the mausoleum slowly came into view. It stands on the raised mound of a long-lost medieval castle, a place that had already seen centuries pass before the mausoleum was ever built. A surrounding moat accentuates its elevated position, making the structure appear even more isolated and prominent in the open landscape.

Unsurprisingly, the building itself was locked. Entry was never an option. Yet standing there in the calm of the countryside, with the low autumn sun casting warm light across the weathered stone, it hardly felt like a disappointment. Some places don’t need to be entered to leave an impression.

The exterior alone offered plenty of details to explore - textures, shadows, and subtle signs of age. And through one of the windows, we managed to catch a brief glimpse of the interior: just enough to spark curiosity and leave the rest to imagination.

For us, this short detour turned out to be a quiet, almost timeless interlude — a moment of stillness before returning to the harsher, more utilitarian relics of the Cold War that awaited us further down the road.

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

Tour Report: Peenemünde Power Station

This decommissioned power plant on the island of Usedom is not an abandoned place. It is a museum. The power plant was built to supply the nearby oxygen factory with enough electricity to produce the fuel for Germany's A4 (V2) rockets. It is the last remaining complete building of the Peenemünde testing facilities and conveys the industrial character of work within the armaments projects. The entire building is designed as a freely accessible monument.

On a beautiful day in June 2020, we drove to the island together with a friend who does not partake in the hobby of urban exploration, but does have a historical interest. In the way, we made a short stop at the ruin of the oxygen factory, only to find out that it wasn't accessible anymore. It would have been nice to have another look at it, but this way, we got to the museum pretty shortly after it opened that day.

A short path leads from the parking lot to the power plant site. Among other things, a V1 (flying bomb) and a V2 are on display on the forecourt. You can also take a look at a few wagons from the former factory railroad.

Upon entering the museum, we were almost completely alone in the huge halls of the old power station, which was a blessing, because I could take photos using a tripod without people walking around in the scene. We took the opportunity and explored every accessible area of the main building before exiting again and checking out the technical building.

As the museum was populated by more and more visitors, we took some time to look at the exhibits in the outdoor area before walking over to the harbor to check out the old Juliet-Class Soviet submarine.

This was a really nice day with sunny skies, warm weather and - contrary to most of our other explorations - without the risk of getting caught by security.

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

Tour Report: Compound Feed Factory G.

2020 began somewhat cautiously in terms of Urbex excursions. After our New Year's tour and a short day trip to Denmark, it took four whole weeks before we were able to hit the road again.

My wife and I have a bit of a thing for old industrial buildings, which is why we chose an abandoned concentrated feed mixing plant for this trip.

It was February, the days were short and dark, so we set off relatively early to make the most of the available light.

Two hours and two hundred kilometers later, we parked in a parking lot near the historic center of a small town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The building we wanted to explore was right opposite. Directly on the road and visible from all sides.

So first we discussed our strategy. We didn't have too many options, so we decided on “cheekiness wins”.

We crossed the road, climbed over the small fence and headed straight for the front door. To our delight, it was open, so we were inside the building very quickly. At this point, we thanked the weather gods for the gray, drizzly weather, which meant that there were very few pedestrians out and about who could have spotted us.

From this point on, we had complete peace and quiet. We explored the old mill from the cellar to the attic.

Most of the rooms were empty, but there were still some machines, conveyor belts and other things that pointed to the former operation as a feed mill.

Probably due to its central location in the heart of the village, vandalism was very limited, which is why the decay was not as advanced as I would have liked.

Nevertheless, it was very nice to find a building in such good condition after a long period of vacancy - in this respect, the trip was really worthwhile.

After about two and a half hours, we left the building the same way we had entered it - even now without being noticed.

As the rain was getting heavier and we still had a two-hour drive back, we decided to call it a day and make our way home.

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

Tour Report: Soviet Ammunitions Depot R.

It was our last tour of 2019 and we had made our way to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with a friend to celebrate New Year's Eve at a good friend's house.
On the way, we made a short stopover to see another Soviet relic near the Lärz airfield.

Over the years we had already explored not only the airfield itself but also the bunker of the fighter control center and the command post of the 125th Fighter Bomber Division as well as the local Soviet garrison.
The object of this tour was the airfield's ammunition depot. Many Soviet airfields had two separate depots for ammunition. One depot was used to store conventional ammunition, while some airfields also had an area for storing nuclear ammunition.
In the case of Lärz airfield, the storage bunker for nuclear bombs is used by a branch of the munitions recovery service.
This bunker is located directly on the border of the airport grounds.
The ammunition depot for conventional ammunition is located a good distance north of the airfield and approx. 1.6 kilometers east of the former Soviet garrison.
On satellite images and maps, it looked as if the area was openly accessible, and so it was. We were able to park directly on the road and walked the rest of the way. We could see from the vehicle tracks that the area was probably being used as a storage site by the forestry authority.

That's why there wasn't much for us to see. The two large storage bunkers, the warehouses and the vehicle garage were locked. Only the protected vehicle hall was open and accessible. But even here there wasn't much to see apart from a bit of garbage.

So we didn't spend too much time on the site and made our way relatively quickly to another location.

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