Tour Report: Finowfurt Aviation Museum

Our November 2019 vacation was in full swing. After we had finished exploring the ruins of the "Stasi Hotel", we used the rest of the day to pay a visit to the Finowfurt Aviation Museum (Official Website). It was already the end of November, so the days were already getting quite short and we limited ourselves to short drives in order to have enough time for photos.

The former Eberswalde-Finow airfield was only about 50 kilometers and a 45-minute drive away, so there should at least be time for a short tour.

When we arrived, we were worried whether we would even get the chance to look around - there were no cars in the parking lot, the ticket booth was unoccupied and there was no one to be seen for miles around. Of course, the peak season was long gone and it's unlikely that anyone would stray into this region on a rainy and windy November afternoon.

Although we didn't see anyone, we walked onto the grounds and actually saw a sign pointing the way into one of the buildings to buy a ticket.

The museum employee present was actually a little surprised that someone had come by. There was no one else on site either, so he apologized for not being able to offer a guided tour - but he offered us a coffee instead, which we gratefully accepted given the cold weather.

Apart from the weather, it was really nice to walk through the exhibitions completely alone. We were able to see everything at our leisure and were only limited by the fading daylight. At the end of our tour, we took a look at the exhibition in the administration building.

All in all, the museum operators have really done a great job. Both the airplanes and the vehicles as well as the other exhibits (such as the engine of a V-2 rocket) have been lovingly restored and are well preserved. The historical background is explained and emphasized in many places, so that you get a very good view not only of the history of the airfield, but of the Cold War in Germany as a whole.

I recommend a visit to this museum to anyone traveling in the region - it's really worth it!

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

Operation "Easter Basket" - Technical Museum B. [Revisit]

After we had dropped off Elmar from Lichtbeschatter at the train station, we went on the way home ourselves - but not without stopping at one or two spots on the way.
The first location on our way back was the abandoned technical museum that my wife and I had first visited in early 2015 and that Freddy from Nordgriller hadn't visited yet.
Since it was conveniently close to our route, we made it our first stop.
It's a quick stop-and-shoot location. Since it is publically accessible and open-air, there is no attempting to get in, you just park your car, get out and get she photos you like.

Last I heard, the owner had told a local newspaper that all the relics will be gone by the end of 2016. I don't know if this has been done or if there are still some exhibits left, but it looks like the time for this location is running out.


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

Soviet Garrison R.

After two spots and some distance between the two, the sun was beginning to set, so there really wasn't enough time left for Freddy and me to explore another location far away from the old airfield. We had to settle for something a little closer by, and fortunately, there was a place only 15 minutes or so away.
It was a nice addition to the airfield, because it was the Soviet garrison that housed the soldiers that were stationed there.
It was an easy spot to get in. I don't even think that the access is in any way forbidden, because there are no fences or signs of any kind. We drove right up to the buildings. It was a short way through the forest that has been growing thicker and thicker over the past 20 years or more since the Soviets left Germany.
The way into the buildings was easy as well. All doors have been taken, and there are hardly any windows left. The local teens and vandals have been busy in this place. You can find a lot of graffiti and there are hardly any signs of the buildings' former function left.

After a few shots, the light started to fade, and so Freddy and I concluded our last tour of 2015 after two days and six locations.


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

Soviet Airfield R.

After our exploration of the Insane Asylum, Freddy and I drove to our next spot - a former Soviet military airfield. Some of you may know the place as the area of the annual "Fusion Festival" which is being held here since 1997 using twelve hardened aircraft shelters as stages.
The larger part of the airfield however has been turned into an airpark, and a lot of the shelters are still unused, and we wanted to check those out.
We got lucky with the weather - as soon as we got there, the clouds cleared and the sun came out to shine on...a lot of old airplanes! There is a small museum on the area, which doesn't seem to have been open for quite some time. There was a note on the door saying that it is closed due to illness, but the state of the exhibits suggests that this illness has been going on for some time.

So we started by checking out all the airplaners and other stuff standing around the museum building before we went on to check out the shelters.
Walking to the shelters was really easy - there were no fences, and we could just wander around the airfield (which is still being used for private flying) as much as we wanted.
We had planned to check out a bunker near the airfield as well, but it was getting late, the bunker would have taken some time to walk to, and we had one more stop to make, so we decided against that. Later, I found out that this was the right decision since the bunker is being used by the German Emergency Management Agency for drills, so there wouldn't have been a chance to get in.

The shelters weren't as spectacular as we'd hoped, but the sun made for a nice scenery - and the old airplanes were a great find!


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

Technical Museum B.

This place is pretty well known in the German urbex community.
My wife and I visited it as the first place on our tour a little further south in Western Germany than our usual routes.
It used to be a privately owned car and aviation museum near a spa town in the middle of Germany.
The museum area is made up of several exhibition halls and an outdoor area. The outdoor area leaves the impression of randomly collected militaria from several former Eastern-bloc countries.
The museum was a tourist attraction for the city - even today, there are still roadsings showing the way.

So although we had found out the address and coordinates, the place was really easi to find.
We were a little unlucky bvecause there was some gardener or caretaker working on the premises, and he didn't look too friendly. As we approached him and asked if there was any chance if we could take some photos, he answered rather grimly that we were allowed to take photos from the street and from outside the fence but weren't allowed to enter the property.
So that's what we did; we walked all around the palce and took our pictures. The weather was great, almost a little too much sun for my taste. The publicly accessible area is relatively small, so some people might be disappointed when they go there after seeing the pictures that you can find on the internet, but when you're in the region and are interested in old military (and some other) vehicles, you should definitely check it out!

Some information about the history: The museum was founded at the beginning of the 1970s and was closed in 2007. Since then, there is no information concerning the exhibition or plans for a reopening.
Most of the exhibits in the outdoor area and by the side of the road can be freely accessed or viewed from a short distance. Among others, there is a MiG-21 jet, an Mi-8 helicopter and a T-35 tank.

For more photos from this and other places, please visit my website!