Tour Report: Prison of the Navy

In May of 2019, we got the chance to legally explore a historically significant building in my hometown: The abandoned former prison of the Navy. It was built in the early 20th century and used as a prison until after World War II. Many delinquents waited in one of the narrow cells for the transport to the local shooting range - to be executed.

The association that takes care of many of the old Navy buildings in the area organized an exhibition a few years ago, and I had the pleasure to contribute a few photos from the abandoned former military hospital, so I was able to establish some contacts which I used to get permission to explore the old prison.

I met up with my good friends Pixelcracker and Lost Places in Schleswig-Holstein und Umland at the parking lot right across the building, and we only had to wait a few minutes until the president of the cultural association drove up to us and nonchalantly handed the prison keys over through the car window.

The building is abandoned, but had been used a year earlier to stage a play about the Kiel sailor uprising of 1918, and some of the stuff had not been cleaned out yet, so in terms of photography, the place was a nice mixture of a little decay, long hallways, old furniture and historical "gimmicks", such as posters, cartoons, etc.

Since we had permission to be there, we wee able to take our time without the risk of being caught, and we did. We checked out every room on every floor and took a lot of photos - not forgetting that for the first 40 years of the 20th century, this must have been one of the most feared places in the city...

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

Tour Report: Naval Academy E. [Revisit]

Our first exploration of the abandoned naval academy was cut short by the late hour and lots of rain, we had decided to return as soon as possible to explore the rest of this interesting place, and only one week later, my wife and I were picked up by Freddy from Nordgriller Urbex again to finish what we had started the week before.

This time, we brought enough time, and even the weather was in our favor - it only rained a little!

We got in the same way we had taken the week before, and everything went just as smoothly. We walked around undisturbed for three or four hours, until we had entered most of the buildings.

Sadly, the swimming pool, which had been open for the public after the base was closed, has been completely vandalized. In the gym next door, we surprised a couple of kids who - judging by the smell - were trying to set fire to something. Luckily, they took off as soon as we entered.

Anyway - the tour was a complete success, and I'm glad I got to see this place before they turn it into the next seaside development.

To find out more about the history of this li'l ol' place and to check out all the photos from this spot, click the button below.

Tour Report: Naval Academy E.

There was still some time left on out tour together with Freddy from Nordgriller Urbex that Sunday back in early October of last year, so we decided to try our luck with one more location.
This location happened to be a former academy of the German Navy. Here, future surface weapon mechanics and ops personnel were training for missions on fast attack boats.
The area has been for sale by the German government for a couple of years now, and there are rumors that soon apartments will be built on the ground of the former Naval Academy, which was also a good reason to check it out.
By the time we had found a parking spot not too far away, it had started to rain a bit, but we went on anyway.
Many locations follow the same theme - walk along the fence long enough, and eventually you will find a hole in it. It was no different here. We jumped over the fence and hurried to get out of the field of view of the neighbors.
Once we were in, we looked at the first buildings, but fould them mostly vandalized and full of graffiti. The most interesting building was the dome simulator which was used for combat simulations.
When we were in a third building, it started raining heavily so we had to take a break, during hich we decided to call it a day and to return the next weekend to finish the exploration.


To find out more about the history of this li'l ol' place and to check out all the photos from this spot, click the button below.

Details - Abandoned Navy Barracks (Part 4)

Here are the last photos from my tour into the abandoned barracks in the Town of Strande, near my hometown Kiel.
The day after my wife and I went there, the local newspaper had as tory that the town's finance committee has given the green light for the demolition, now the local counsil has to approve. The barracks will probably be torn down before this year is over.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to go in there for a final documentation of the building and the premises.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

In the Darkness - Abandoned Navy Barracks (Part 3)

Over finding and processing the photos from the old neo-baroque mansion and my visit to the abandoned air force school, I almost forgot to continue the series about the abandoned navy barracks.
Of course, it has a bunker!
I was glad to have rubber boots with me, the whole thing is almost one foot under water...and it is standing water, there were mosquitos everywhere.
I really like bunkers, especially the shelters that are a couple of flights of stairs down from the fortified basement...

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4