Exploring the Rotten Side of Germany
You might say I'm a collector. I collect rare objects. Facts, stories...I travel the roads of Germany seeking its heart.
Featured Photo
“The comfort of having a friend may be taken away, but not that of having had one.”
(Seneca)
The Saturday before Easter, one of my best friends was taken from us without warning.
I first met Jens back in 2013 on a spontaneous visit to "his" abandoned sanatorium - a lonely place on top of a mountain where he had chosen to live with his pack of sleigh dogs. He offered us coffee, showed us the place and told stories. The little time we had just flew by. This first meeting was special. We had immediately connected on a really cool level, and my wife and I only reluctantly left that evening. We returned a few months later, and then again...and again. Over the years, a real friendship developed. Jens and "his" mountain became the place for us to be grounded, to meet new people, learn new things - and have barbecue ;)
We felt at home there, and Jens was the reason for that.
I still can't believe that he is gone and that I won't see him anymore walking quickly over his premises, feeding his dogs, riding the sleigh or building something new.
What remains are the great memories of adventure, of long talks by the campfire at night, the hunts for trespassers trying to jump the fence and of surprising visits to cool places that nobody else knew of.
And what will remain are the friendships that developed with the people we met on the mountain. That is Jens' legacy - he brought people together. People of different ages, religions, political views. People that came because of the dogs, people that came because of the sanatorium - in the end everyone came for Jens and for all the things that made this place so unique.
Thank you, Jens, for your friendship.
Thank you for everything you gave us!
We'll meet again by the great campfire in the sky!!!
Galleries
Children's Home "Algae Bloom"
This abandoned children's home was originally built as a hospital in the 1890s. It was operated by sisters of the Order of "St. Algae". As early as 1901, the hospital began to accomodate children for recreational purposes. The official use as a children's home began in 1913. Since the 1980s, the number of children that stayed at the house declined dramatically, so the home was mainly used to accomodate travel groups of senior citizens, school classes and priests. In the middle of the 2000s, the order began withdrawing from the operation, and the last three sisters left in 2010. The first rumors of the closure...(more)
Border Troops W.
This abandoned base of the East German "Grenztruppen" (border troops) was active from 1962 until 1990. It was first used by a platoon of combat engineers before being converted into a maintenance company.
The area includes a three-floor building for administration and accommodation, various flat-roofed buildings that were used as workshops and storage rooms, and the typical garages for the vehicles.
There are also classrooms that were used for instruction and political education...(more)
Video
Lost Places | Goin' Bunkers - "The Defensive Command"
Blog
Tour Report: Industrial Bakery N. [Revisit]
Published 2019-05-21
About four weeks after our summer vacation in 2017, we were really hungry for another exploration, so we planned a spontaneous tour with our friends from Lost Places of Pixelcracker. We only had time for a one-day excursion, which is why we chose to explore two spots that weren't too far away. I had explored both spots before, so we could be relatively sure that they wouldn't be locked down and were open for exploration, so to speak.
The first spot was an abandoned bakery that I had visited almost exactly to the day three years before, and I was curious to see what these years ...(more)
Urbex Feeds
Feeds from various Urbex Pages
Urban Ghosts Media
The Ruins of Fort de la Chartreuse, Liege (Wed, 10 Oct 2018)Eerie photos of this derelict military fort, with all its empty corridors, staircases, passageways, halls and ancillary buildings, can be seen on Wikimedia Commons. The post The Ruins of Fort de la Chartreuse, Liege appeared first on Urban Ghosts Media.
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Forgotten Rollingstock at Janakpur Railway Station, Nepal (Tue, 02 Oct 2018)
There's something elegantly decayed about this forgotten Nepal railway coach at Janakpur railway station. The post Forgotten Rollingstock at Janakpur Railway Station, Nepal appeared first on Urban Ghosts Media.
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Faded Farmhouse in Rural Virginia (Tue, 25 Sep 2018)
This image by photographer "PumpkinSky" on Wikimedia Commons illustrates a style of architecture that increasingly seems to be a thing of the past. The post Faded Farmhouse in Rural Virginia appeared first on Urban Ghosts Media.
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Atlas Obscura - Latest Places
Calumet Fisheries in Chicago, Illinois (Thu, 23 May 2019)
Calumet Fisheries is one of two smokehouses still allowed to burn wood and smoke fish in Chicago. The shack, plopped between Lake Michigan and the Chicago Skyway, has become an icon of the city's
South Side.
With views overlooking the Calumet River, this roadside seafood smokehouse is one of the last of its kind. The menu consists of seafood divided into two categories: smoked or fried. The business,
barebones and compact, boasts the absence of indoor seating or bathrooms on its official website. The weather rarely accommodates dining
at the two tables outside, but customers are more inclined to eat in their cars, anyway.
As is suggested by the 2010 James Beard Award in the America's Classics category and Anthony Bourdain’s sun-bleached, hand-written love note on the wall, experiencing this dying breed of
fishcraft is well worth the trip. Brothers-in-law Sid Kotlick and Len Toll opened Calumet Fisheries in 1948, and it's still run by the Kotlick-Toll families today.
Out back, a tiny smokehouse yields thick steaks of fatty salmon, trout, sturgeon, and sablefish, as well as giant, smoky shrimp. Pending availability, there might be eel, to boot. Employees brine
the fish overnight, then smoke it for hours over all-natural oak logs. Patrons pick up the finished product, a multi-day affair, perfect in its simplicity, by the pound. Proper picnickers
complete the feast with a sleeve of saltines (to accompany the fish) and containers of hot sauce (to top the shrimp), both of which are sold inside.
Parked besides the 95th Street Bridge—the very same one featured in the original Blues Brothers movie—diners will find digging into the contents of their Styrofoam container elucidates a rare
truth: critical acclaim and prestige have little to do with the clientele streaming in and out of Calumet Fisheries. Now, just the same as 70 years ago, it's simply about the food.
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