This was the last visit of a short weekend away hitting up some former Soviet bases in east Germany (I'll post the others up soon). We travelled just a couple of days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, which I couldn't help but feel gave the trip a sense of poignancy, visiting these aging Soviet relics whilst history was repeating itself a couple of borders away.
History
This town was developed into a large number of military installations by the Nazi government in the 1930s., and would also be home to a famous concentration camp from 1939-1945. The complex was then taken over by the Soviet military, who used the town as their regional HQ. At its peak, the bases in the immediate vicinity of the town were home to c. 25,000 troops, hosting cinemas, schools, supermarkets, sports venues all dedicated to the Russian forces. The area also acted as a depot for the USSR's nuclear arsenal for awhile, just 150km from the West German border.
The Russians left in 1994 and whilst the majority of the military complex has been demolished or repurposed, some sections remain abandoned as the town doesn't know what to do with them.
The Explore
After a long foggy drive through the Brandenburg countryside we arrived at the town 1.5 hrs north of Berlin, nestled amongst sprawling forests and lakes. We headed straight towards the old Officers Casino, the largest building left on site. Explore was really relaxed compared to the security we had encountered at other sites, even though it was located right in the centre of a small town next to houses. We encountered locals on site who didn't mind us being there at all, despite it being clearly obvious what we were there to do! The main building was a bit of death trap which made for limited pictures, but had one of the best access methods I've ever had to do (via a WW2 era bunker and series of tunnels, eventually leading to the basement).
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14. The guardian of the site
A couple more pictures from one of the other parts of the complex. Completely gutted and trashed by vandals, quite surprising since this was perhaps the most isolated location I've ever explored by a country mile! The lengths people go to ruin things never ceases to amaze me, although I should know better by now!
The hall/gymnasium were interesting for a couple of shots, but that's all there was of interest.
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Thanks for looking.
History
This town was developed into a large number of military installations by the Nazi government in the 1930s., and would also be home to a famous concentration camp from 1939-1945. The complex was then taken over by the Soviet military, who used the town as their regional HQ. At its peak, the bases in the immediate vicinity of the town were home to c. 25,000 troops, hosting cinemas, schools, supermarkets, sports venues all dedicated to the Russian forces. The area also acted as a depot for the USSR's nuclear arsenal for awhile, just 150km from the West German border.
The Russians left in 1994 and whilst the majority of the military complex has been demolished or repurposed, some sections remain abandoned as the town doesn't know what to do with them.
The Explore
After a long foggy drive through the Brandenburg countryside we arrived at the town 1.5 hrs north of Berlin, nestled amongst sprawling forests and lakes. We headed straight towards the old Officers Casino, the largest building left on site. Explore was really relaxed compared to the security we had encountered at other sites, even though it was located right in the centre of a small town next to houses. We encountered locals on site who didn't mind us being there at all, despite it being clearly obvious what we were there to do! The main building was a bit of death trap which made for limited pictures, but had one of the best access methods I've ever had to do (via a WW2 era bunker and series of tunnels, eventually leading to the basement).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. The guardian of the site
A couple more pictures from one of the other parts of the complex. Completely gutted and trashed by vandals, quite surprising since this was perhaps the most isolated location I've ever explored by a country mile! The lengths people go to ruin things never ceases to amaze me, although I should know better by now!
The hall/gymnasium were interesting for a couple of shots, but that's all there was of interest.
15.
16.
Thanks for looking.
