Tour Report: The Flight School of the Wehrmacht

Back in February of last year, my wife and I embarked on a three-day tour through the East German hinterland together with our friend Freddy from Nordgriller Urbex.
We had finished exploring an abandoned pharmaceutical factory, our first location of the day, and it was around noon, so we did have enough time left for a second spot.
We had a few spots on our list to choose from, but the one that to us looked the most appealing was also the one farthest away...
But there was enough time, so we got on the way.
The spot we had decided for is part of a huge abandoned military area that has a long history dating back to the 1860s. Of course, there wasn't enough time to explore all, so we decided to limit ourselves to the part that contains the most iconic buildings of the place - the former Wehrmacht's flight school.
As always, we hadn't really researched how to get in, so we chose our usual appraoch - park the car and walk aroud until you find a way in.
And so we did. We parked the car on a public parking space in a residential area near the location and started walking through the forest.
After a while, we got to the fence surrounding the buildings.We walked along the fence until we found a part where the fence was missing. No one in sight, so we walked in.
The trees had no leaves, so we could make out the impressive size of the place. It was one of those places where you can probably spend weeks exploring and still find something new every time around.
Anyway, we focused on the main building. The way in was easy enough, and we spent at least two and a half hours in there exploring all floors and looking in every room. The building is empty, but the architecture itself is impressive enough. A well-known mural and a really moldy completely dark auditorium topped off the walkthrough.
This one really was worth the drive.
As we got back out and walked back in the direction of the fence, we found dirty footprints that hadn't been there when we arrived. We hadn't seen anyone, but signs on the fence had indicated that there was a security service patrolling the premises. Had we gotten lucky and the security just hadn't seen us? I guess we'll never know.
What I do know is that we had chosen the right time to leave, because when we crossed the road back to the car, we saw various units of the fire brigade and the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW, Technisches Hilfswerk) preparing to enter the premises - obviously for an exercise...
So we gladly went back to the car and drove to another location nearby, only to find that the same security service was patrolling this place as well...


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

Soviet Airfield LT

It was afternoon when Freddy from Nordgriller Urbex and I arrived at the final location of our short tour through the Northeast of Germany back in November of 2016. The former airfield that was built more than 80 years ago was located near the autobahn, so it was a pretty convenient stop before starting our way home.
We parked the car by the side of a nearby road and walked the rest of the way.
The afternoon sun and the beginning sunset made for a fantastic light as we walked up to the hangars, and the cold day made the grass crackle beneath our shoes. It was a really unique atmosphere; the air was crisp and the beautiful light emphasized the way nature has been reclaiming this place for the past twenty years.
Parts of the old airfield have been reused by some local industry, so the area does not have its original size anymore. After about two hours, we had checked out most of the remains and walked back to the car watching the final rays of daylight as we drove off.


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

Tour Report: Ammunition Depot "Brown Star"

It was back in late November of 2016. I had just bought my new camera and got a text from my good friend Nordgriller Urbex, who asked me if I was up for a short tour the next day.
Of course I was!
I had to get up early the next morning so we'd have enough sunlight for a few spots. Getting up, however, was a difficult task that morning. My wife and I had gotten a little drunk together with a friend from my work and it had gotten a bit too late.
A hot shower and the cold air once I got outside helped to become sober - and it was a beautiful sunny winter day.
We drove East through a snowy landscape until we got to our first location. It was an old ammunitions depot that had originally been built by the Wehrmacht and was used by either the East German or the Soviet army after World War II.
The road was blocked, so we parked the car and walked the rest of the way. There were only a few ammo bunkers, nothing spectacular, so we just did a short walkthrough around the place, took a few photos and drove off to the next spot.


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

Tour Report: A Place of Execution

This abandoned military shooting range was the second spot that I visited together with my friend North Urbex on a tour back in November of last year.
It is really close to my home, so it was about time that I pay a visit.
Next to the short way, the place also has played a significant part in the dark history of the Third Reich, which makes it even more interesting to explore. During the summer, the local farmers' cows are grazing here, but in the winter, an eerie silence lies over the entire area.
The weather was grey and cold when North Urbex and I arrived at the location and found a place to park in a nearby industrial area. We walked along the fence until we found a hole which was big enough to enter. First, we found the remains of the old shooting area that was used during the time of the Nazis. We then went on to check out the newer facilities. Local teens have endulged themselves in vandalism and graffiti "art", so little is left of the original surfaces.
Nonetheless, it was an interesting place to explore, and we checked out every last corner before we drove off to the next spot.


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

Tour Report: Command Post F13

The third and final command post on our tour didn't have any command bunkers, only the office building, car shelters and some ammunition bunkers.
It was part of a larger area that during the cold war used to be the joint command post of an anti-aircraft unit and a radio-technical battalion of the East German National People's Army (NVA).
Someone had put rocks by the side of the road to prevent people from parking right in front of the place, so we had to drive past and find a different spot to park, which we eventually did, but it was a bit of a way to walk back.
Getting on the premises was easy enough, the fence didn't really deserve to be called a fence. Moving around the area and finding our way on the other hand was considerably harder, because all the former roads and walkways were so overgrown with all sorts of weeds that we couldn't really tell where the roads were. So it took us some time to walk around the entire place to make sure that there really wasn't any underground bunker that we had overlooked. There was none.
But further research indicated that there might be one in or near a different part of the larger complex that is a little down the road.
I guess we will find out the next time we are there :)


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.