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
Anti-Aircraft Shooting Range
This area was a part of a large military site that existed since 1913 and was in operation until 1990. Originally founded as a base for navy aircraft in 1913, the place became one of the main starting bases for the "Operation Weserübung", the attack on Denmark and Norway, in April of 1940.
After World War II, the buildings were used to accomodate refugees until in 1954, planning began for a base for the East German police (Volkspolizei).
In 1956, the naval polive was integrated in the East German Army, the base was expanded with living quarters for the soldiers and ...(more)
Command Post W43 [Revisit]
This abandoned underground command post was part of the East German anti-aicraft defense strategy during the Cold War. In the early 1960s, an anti-aircraft regiment was founded that was tasked with the protection of the East German airspace in the Northern region, including the naval bases and the larger cities of the area from airstrikes and border violation. Towards the middle of the 1960s, this bunker was put into operation as the command post for the newly founded anti-aircraft regiment.
The bunker has an effective area of more than 200 square meters and was....(more)
Video
Lost Places | Goin' Bunkers - "The Defensive Command"
Blog
Tour Report: The inn by the Cemetery [Revisit]
Published 2019-07-15
As the second spot on our short tour through Denmark together with North Urbex, we had decided to go for a revisit of a spot that my wife and I had first visited about six months earlier - a really nice abandoned old inn.
We assumed that it would still be accessible relatively easy, and we also hadn't been able to explore the smaller house across the street during our first visit, so there still might be more to see for us.
Everything went smoothly, just like the first time.
We parked in the public parking lot right near the inn, and we walked around the building. There we found the open window that we'd used....(more)
Urbex News
Urbex-Related News [English/German]
Atlas Obscura - Latest Places
Tiwa Kitchen in Taos, New Mexico (Tue, 23 Jul 2019)
The Taos people have continuously inhabited the legendary Taos Pueblo, a collection of multi-storied adobe buildings, for over 1,000 years.
Located just off the highway en route to this UNESCO World Heritage Site (and National Historic Landmark), Tiwa Kitchen invites visitors and locals alike to stop and smell the hornos.
Ben and Debbie Sandoval began building the traditional Pueblo adobe building by hand in 1992. Out back, they constructed an adobe oven, called a horno, for baking breads,
cookies, and pies. When the couple opened Tiwa Kitchen, it quickly distinguished itself as a rare outpost for homestyle Pueblo and New Mexican comfort food. For over 25 years, the Sandovals have
been preparing dishes that have been passed from generation to generation—the same ones Ben's grandmothers taught him to make on feast days.
Ben grew up at Taos Pueblo and incorporates local ingredients into the menu. The Pueblo's bison herd supplies meat for their burgers, served on outdoor oven–baked buns. Homegrown blue corn adds a
crisp coating to local trout and appears in hard-to-find specialities such as Phien-tye (a buffalo-stuffed, smothered blue corn fry bread) and steaming mugs of grits-like,
periwinkle atole. Even popular New Mexican dishes, such as the restaurant's heirloom green chile stew, are crafted using crops harvested from Pueblo land.
Eating inside Tiwa Kitchen is as close as you can get to being invited for lunch at a local family's table. The dining room is warm and welcoming. Ben and Debbie are often in the
building, zigzagging from kitchen to dining room to cash register. Start your day off right with an order (or two) of homemade blue corn tortilla chips, and finish strong with dessert fresh from
the horno. The pie made with apples, prunes, and piñons is not to be missed.
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