Report - Brown Coal Power Stations, Brandenburg - September 2023

[Wastelandr]

Back in September I did a big roadtrip in the Brandenburg region of Germany (around Berlin) with two non-forum friends. It was our first time going on a dedicated urbex trip abroad and getting a hire car, although after some last-minute planning we managed it. Alongside some industrial ruins, we also visited a lot of abandoned Soviet military bases back when East Germany existed. My roundup report here covers the whole trip more thoroughly. However, I wanted to group the industrial ruins into a separate post, so here we are.

A map of Berlin showing where we stayed, not quite wide enough to cover all these sites
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KRAFTWERK H.

This was the first bit of abandoned industry we checked out on this trip. Given that it seemed like a fairly derpy easy one, we thought we’d get it in as an early consolation explore if the others failed. I saw this one on the internet a few times here and there but didn’t think much of it except that it had a nice ceiling. It wasn’t till a few weeks before the trip that I realised it was in Germany and near Berlin, so I felt I had to check it out. It took me ages to find the name of though, and I found myself typing in ‘Germany kraftwerk circular ceiling control room’ into Google images and scrolling frantically for some time. Eventually, I got there. This place is often mislabelled as a substation, which I would imagine comes from the adjacent transformer station that would’ve output the power generated at the plant. When you see the size of it from the outside, it’s pretty clear this is a bit more than a substation, although perhaps I’m overlooking technicalities. It’s got a lovely early-mid century bare brick look a bit like a mini Battersea or the Tate Modern. There’s not too much information about it that I can find online, although it seems it dates to 1929-1930 and was originally equipped with diesel motors outputting 8.6MW of power.

Getting in was straightforward, although this meant that it had attracted some unwanted attention with the control panels having been graffed by some dummkopf only a few months before. Nonetheless, it was still nice to see. The turbine hall was stripped but also rather cool, but the highlight I think was the electrical equipment. It made for a great start, and even this place in the UK would be a top-notch explore.

Behind the control panels.

The offices within the tower appeared to have been refitted not too long ago

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KRAFTWERK P.

I can’t remember when I first saw pictures of this online but it was a while back. Like any impressive location, you automatically dismiss it as being ‘out of your depth’, with the childish part of your brain forgetting that you’re an explorer of many years experience yourself! I had the same with Kelenfold power station in Budapest in 2022, which you can see my explore of here. Whilst Kelenfold truly is the daddy of Art Deco control rooms, or even potentially urbex in general, it made me eager to see more pieces of beautiful industrial heritage going forward. When I saw Kraftwerk P. online, I thought it would be a great spiritual successor to the previous summer’s trip. There’s something about the aesthetic pride that went into industrial structures in the past that defies the odds. Power stations are dirty and gritty in nature, not generally seen by outsiders, yet their designers put so much care into making these places temples of modern technology. A staunch contrast to industrial architecture (if it even still exists) today. In late spring, myself and the lads had decided that Kraftwerk P. would be a prime target on our hypothetical German excursion. After crossing paths with @The_Raw at a gathering that summer, the topic of control rooms came up and I mentioned this. Some discussion about it began as did my research, and The Raw managed to get the chance to visit prior to myself, so cheers for the tips.

Fast forward to Germany, the pre-control room anxiety as I call it was real! When you’ve travelled abroad with the hopes of seeing one particular place, you can’t completely relax until the job is done, no matter how many steins you drink. The day of the explore had arrived, and it was sweltering hot. We parked up in this quiet German village and started following our intended route into the site. After some initial struggle to find our way into the turbine hall, which is not always easy given that they’re often above ground level, we realised the site was a lot quieter than we thought. We didn’t encounter a single fence or security guard the whole time, quite ridiculous compared to the hyper-vigilant state of UK exploring these days. You just wouldn’t get a place like this back home.

The coal locomotive conveyor which would've brought fuel into the power station. This initially confused our efforts to access the building.

Once we were in, I didn’t hesitate to find the control room as this was the bit I had come for and didn’t want to find myself getting busted half way through checking out the rest of the building. Whilst these control rooms are relics of the past, there is also something quite futuristic about them. They represented a time at the turn of the 20th century when electricity was relatively new, like some form of sorcery, and before the Second World War had ravaged Europe. The clean and streamlined Modernist architecture appearing in the 1920s perhaps didn’t ever pick up again until the Space Age look of the 1950s and 60s, by which time, it was more of a rebound from war than a genuine new start. You can’t help but get a sense in these places of an alternative historical timeline in which design and society progressed happily ever after. Although we know that was very much not the case, especially in Germany!

Logs from the 1950s

Behind the control panels

This little room to the side was stunning. The marble control panels in this place are unreal.

The control panel affront the main control room facing the turbine hall

The surviving Siemens turbine

Look how they massacred my boy...

The delicious front lobby

TBC...​

 

[Camera Shy]

Very nice, always fancied plessa never seemed to get round to it. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip.

 

[Wastelandr]

This power station was built in 1926 and like most ran off lignite (brown coal) mined in the surrounding region, as it controversially still is today. The power station continued use through the eras of Nazi Germany and the DDR after brief closure following wartime. When the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the Cold War, the power plant was commissioned as it was considered too difficult to convert to run on gas. From 2001, it functioned as a museum and events space, although at some point seemingly in the late 2010s this came to an end, presumably due to a lack of funding. Ever since, it has sat disused with no clear future. It’s a real shame as I think Germany does such a good job of embracing its industrial heritage, unlike the UK which hides it away from the public and demolishes it. It’s not entirely clear how much the place was altered by the museum, aside from the obvious modern facilities in places and bar areas, although it seems most of the stuff inside the power plant is original and was either dusted down and put back in place or preserved as it was left by the museum. The pipework area behind the turbine hall appears to not have been opened to the museum, as it was in a very rusting and naturally decayed state, which did admittedly look awesome.

Don't know what's more horrifying - the Vino Rosso or this bloke's head

Entering the decayed side of the power plant

Presumed coal furnaces

After taking a good look round we decided it was time to leave and made our way out with the sight of the two chimneys behind us. Upon returning to the car, we went to crack out some ham and cheese sandwiches we’d made for the day, only to find upon returning that they’d basically been turned into melted toasties in the car. Washing them down with water as hot as tea, we rinsed the dust from our hands and prepared to head to the other sites.
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CONTROL ROOM

Now this place was originally posted in NP so if it’s thought best this should be moved, do feel free to suggest. However, I figured if I bury it amongst the other places, don’t mention any details and given that it’s already made it’s way around online, it might be alright here. I didn’t find out about this one till I was actually in Germany, and we decided to fit it into the schedule. A bit more modern than the previous control rooms, but still pretty fine indeed. I’m guessing it dates to something like the 60s but it was hard to quite tell. This was built as a modern addition at one end of one of Germany’s earlier lignite power stations.

The other half was a bit less nice

Can't believe this is a real product
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THE BLUE WONDER

To conclude this report, I felt it only right to include this behemoth. Of course it isn’t a power station, but it forms a nice link to the coal industry which fuelled them. Bagger 1473, erroneously referred to as 258, is a giant bucket-wheel excavator which dug brown coal, known as Lignite and found across Germany, from open-pit mines.The megastructure was completed in 1965 and is 50m high and about 170m long. I thought I read that at the time of its construction, it was the largest land vehicle ever built, and whilst I can’t find any verification of this now, it has to have been at least one of. In theory, it could dig about 5,130m2 of ground per hour. After scooping the material with its huge wheel, it would then be passed along its length via the conveyor. The Meuro mine it was used at closed in 1999 and now sits rusting in the corner of fields at the edge of the former pit. It's nicknamed the Blue Wonder because of its blueish-grey colour scheme, although it has since turned into the Orange Wonder.

It’s difficult to comprehend the scale of this machine even in person, let alone via pictures. It’s so large it’s quite difficult to really tell what shape it is, with different sections sticking off everywhere. It’s like a machine from hell, and someone at work told me there’s a scene in Ghost Rider in which one of these is on fire and possessed by a demon, with the wheel acting like a saw - all very fitting for its appearance. We didn’t fully intend on climbing it, but one thing led to another and next thing I know I’m walking along what I can only describe as a crumbling layer of thin rusty metal in the sky. Someone’s gonna die climbing this thing one day. Unlike a lot of high stuff which is purely psychological, the structure’s integrity is heavily decayed and unpredictable. Some of the metal grates had completely rusted through, and I found myself waddling along the edges of the walkways because I didn’t trust the panels. I made it about 35-40m up, took a shot of the lads at the other end, then got down sharpish. They continued to the very top so fair play to them. It was a pretty thrilling end to the day though, and I was thankful to be back on solid ground dripping from my entire body with sweat.

So that concludes another of my typical roundup reports. I’m really keen on seeing more of these power stations with Art Deco control rooms. I’ve missed Battersea, and got my eyes on one in eastern central Europe, although I’m sure there’s more in Germany even still to be discovered. I’d imagine Kraftwerk P was a relatively small power station as far as some go, and yet even then its control room is exquisite. It just makes you wonder how many amazing skylights there once was and probably still are across Europe.​

 

[Mikeymutt]

Beautiful stuff mate, all so very different. I do love the tiled floors they have over there.

 

[HughieD]

Mega (watts)

 

[Wastelandr]

Very nice, always fancied plessa never seemed to get round to it. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the trip.

If you can get to Germany, absolutely go and see it! Just had a look at your Flickr, you've got plenty of very tasty ones on there yourself

Beautiful stuff mate, all so very different. I do love the tiled floors they have over there.

Yeah quite a big variety here, I would have done more had I known how much of a slog the military bases would be. Yeah a lot of craftsmanship and detail went into them!

 

[Wastelandr]

Mega (watts)

Haha cheers!

 

[Ojay]

Nicely done mate, this is quality

 

[Wastelandr]

Nicely done mate, this is quality

Cheers mate glad you liked

 

[Ojay]

Cheers mate glad you liked

I can extend my love from the sewers with this sorta stuff

 

[The Explorer Returns]

Loved that mate, keep up the good work.

 

[JakeV50]

Stunning, absolutely stunning work dude

 

[The Young One]

Absolutely stunning mate good job
i do need to go and see bagger 258 myself

 

[Calamity Jane]

Superb. Those art deco control rooms are in a different league. Outstanding job.

 

[dansgas1000]

Absolutely beautiful. I am jealous some fantastic shots there aswell. Those control rooms are fantastic. Bet climbing up the 'Blue' Wonder was a right thrill.