Tour Report: Sanatorium A.

It was still our late fall vacation in 2018. After exploring the abandoned railyard, we drove to the Harz mountains to visit with our dear friend Jens and to spend three nights at his place on top of the mountain. We didn't have a barbecue over the campfire as we'd thought - but Jens had installed an old kitchen wood stove in "our" room for heating and cooking, so we made a pot of stew for dinner and sat and talked with Jens for a few hours before going to bed.

The next morning, we had a nice long breakfast with fresh coffee, and the weather was beautiful, so we decided to go for a short tour to an abandoned sanatorium. We had seen this place in 2014 - but only from a distance, so to speak, since only a few weeks before, there had been a big fire, and the place was pretty well secured at the time. Looking at the maps, we saw that there were some more buildings than just the scorched main building, so it did seem to be worth a visit.

About 30 minutes after leaving, we arrived at our destination. There was a public parking spot nearby, so we were able to park our car and look like normal hikers heading into the woods. The premises of the sanatorium aren't really off limits; only the main building is surrounded by a fence.

First, we headed deeper into the woods to check out the three buildings standing a little further away. The first building we explored was originally the part of the hospital where children were treated. The building was beautiful - autumnal colors dominated the place. The wind had blown in large amounts of fall leaves through the windows, and the combination of yellow walls and blue tiles added a few spots of color.

The next two buildings that we checked out, were two smaller houses that looked more or less like residences. They may have been used by specialized doctors for private patients, but I'm not sure about that. These two buildings were even more decayed than the first one, and they looked pretty dangerous to enter. One of them had collapsed to the point that entering wasn't even possible. The second of the two houses looked pretty unspectacular - right up to the point when we went into the basement and discovered a bathtub full of old x-ray photos. These photos were from the 1960s and older. Some of them still had the patient's names on them, but most of them were illegible. It was still fascinating to find these "hands on" relics from the hospital past after so many years.

Towards the end of our exploration, we even took some time to check out the sanatorium's main building, and in spite of the massive destruction due to the fire, we did take a couple of shots there as well.

After finishing our exploration, we decided to call it a day, shop some drinks and groceries for the barbecue - and we also still had to chop some wood for the oven, so we wouldn't freeze at night. After all, it was November on top of the mountain, and the nights can get pretty cold up there...

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

Tour Report: Railyard S.

After we finished our tour through the abandoned castle, we got on the way and drove towards the Harz Mountains where a very dear friend was expecting us for a nice barbecue on the campfire. It was still relatively early, and the weather was beautifully sunny, so we decided to make another stop at an abandoned railyard that wasn't really on the way, but a detour of about an hour was acceptable for us.

It took only about half an hour on the Autobahn, and we found a regular parking space right across the street from the abandoned railyard. To be honest, I had expected this place to be harder to get into, since it is located right next to an active railway area (and at the time of our visit, I hadn't seen any new photos for a while) - but it actually was really easy.

The fence had been removed on the backside of one of the engine houses, so that we could just walk onto the premises. Just as quickly, we found an open door and started taking photos.

At that point, we realized just how close we were to the active parts of the area, because railway workers were walking right past us with only the walls and wooden doors of the engine house between them and us.

From that point on, we tried not only to be quiet, but to be REALLY quiet!

From the first locomotive shed which was built mostly from bricks and wood, we moved West to the second engine house, which was a bit newer and built from reinforced concrete and steel, and covered with a wooden roof. The concrete structure allowed for larger windows and more light - and roll-up gates made from metal and glass that were almost completely transparent. Luckily, the workers had moved to a more remote location, so we weren't spotted - but it was still a bit exciting :)

Both engine houses had a unique character due to the different materials used and different lighting conditions. One had a warmer, more antique mood, whereas the other was colder and more modern, which I've tried to include in my editing of the photos.

Following the exploration of the locomotive sheds, we turned our attention to the administration buildings and smaller workshops. Of course, there had been a lot of vandalism, but there was also a fair share of nice decay for us to enjoy. The last building that we explored was especially enjoyable. The sun bathed the inside of the building in a yellow, autumnal light, emphasized by the yellow and blue paint on the walls - it was beautiful!

This place was well worth the detour - and we still were on time for our barbecue on top of the mountain :)

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

Tour Report: Knight's Manor "The Blue Estate"

We're still looking back at our vacation in November of 2018. After a day of touring together with my mother-in-law, we spent the night at her place, before starting the next stage of our trip. On the way from the city of Kassel to our next destination in the Harz Mountains, we stopped to check out an abandoned castle in a small town situated in a valley between two low mountain ranges.

We wanted to check if there was any possibility to explore the beautiful old castle located on the northern edge of the village. As we drove up and saw the castle, our hearts started beating faster - what a beautiful building this was! At the same time, feelings of disappointment started creeping in, because we could already see that there was no way to get on the premises. A high wall and a large gate kept us from entering, and we did not want to sneak across various neighbor's lawns to check if there was a possibility to enter from the other side.

So we were almost ready to get back into the car and drive on to the next stop, when we saw an older man exit one of the outbuildings and walk across the courtyard. We called out to him, and it turned out that he was a kind of caretaker for the place. He lived in the outbuilding and was looking out for the castle because a new owner had bought the building and was planning to begin renovation soon.

We asked him if there was a possibility to get into the castle to take a few photos - and to our surprise, he said yes! Then he opened the gate, so we could park right in the courtyard. After we had gotten our gear out of the car, he unlocked the castle door and took us on a tour through the castle.

This guy was really nice. He was with us the entire time, told us about the history of the castle, told stories from the past and explained what was planned for the future. All in all, we were in there for about two and a half hours, and the caretaker managed to fill the entire time with a wealth of information while we took our photos. He seemed to really like us and the fact that we had a genuine interest in the place and its history. We could have stayed even longer, but we had a dinner engagement by the campfire for the evening - and one more spot to explore on the way...

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