This amazing hospital complex just outside Berlin is considered to be one of the absolute top locations by many European photographers and urban explorers. The huge buildings and the size of the area is quite overwhelming. This was my first trip outside Norway with sheer urbex photography in mind. I traveled with two other great guys and we did saw some cool places around Berlin.

Now back to the location. Beelitz-Heilstätten was built in 1898 as a tuberculosis sanatorium but turned into a military hospital in the beginning of World War 1 by the Imperial German Army. In October 1916 a young corporal called Adolph Hitler was sent here to be treated for an injury he got in the Battle of Somme. He even wrote about this stay in Mein Kampf.

After the end of World War 2, Beelitz-Heilstätten was occupied by Soviet forces. They left in 1995. There have been several attempts so continue the activity here, but in 2000 most of the buildings was abandoned.

The area looks quite like a ghost town with its 60 buildings. The area is huge, and we spent a whole day there photographing, but didn’t cover all the buildings. Some of the buildings are open to public and it’s quite vandalized. Other buildings are closed for public, but they were easy to enter as well. They were in a somewhat better shape.

I’m glad I have seen this place before it’s completely destroyed by all the people who want to see this fantastic place. I have uploaded some more artistic pictures from this trip on my flickr account.

The Mens Sanatorium

Terrace at the Mens Sanatorium

The famous stairs, angle 1

The famous stairs, angle 2

Wide angle corridor

There were a lot of corridors

Mens Gymnasium

Entrance to the Mens Sanatorium

A Beelitz-Heilstätten building

The morgue

The vandalized auditorium

The Bath building – main room with bath in the middle

The enatrance are to the bath with columns

Sideroom with bath tub and showers

Amazing entrance hall to the bath

Some sort of dancing halls on the top floor

Pipes in a maintenance room

Surgery building – an operation theater with lamp

Long corridor through the huge surgery building

The ruind – notice how trees grow on the roof

Corridor in the ruin

I have a lot of pictures, but I think this is enough. One last shot – Photographers at work: