Beelitz-Heilstätten

I went on a bike trip from Berlin to Beelitz-Heilstätten, an abandoned military hospital. This was where Adolf Hitler was unfortunately repaired after having his ball blown off during World War 1. Later, it was used as a Nazi military hospital, and afterwards served as a military hospital for the Soviet Union until the 1990’s. Now it is simply a collection of spectacular ruins.

View through the fence into Beelitz-Heilstätten

The view through an outer fence into the Beelitz-Heilstätten grounds.

Stairs. Most of the stairs seem fairly stable, but explorers should be darned careful.

Stairs. Most of the stairs seem fairly stable, but explorers should be darned careful.

Most of the windows are broken.

Me standing in a hallway. Thanks to Hanna for taking the photo :)

Me standing in a hallway. Thanks to Hanna for taking the photo :)

View from the outside

An intrepid Danish explorer

Robinson taking a photo through an upstairs window

Robinson taking a photo through an upstairs window

We were told that we wouldn’t be able to go in as the area was blocked off and not open to individuals. But we just kept walking on into the grounds expecting to see a sign or fence indicating where we weren’t allowed, but never saw anything of the sort.

 

Crazy drones

I got to see some crazy looking drones at the Berlin airshow earlier this year. In another life, I could imagine having become a drone developer. I think it would be quite fun to build a little gizmo to go cruising around taking photos, dropping off mail or whatever other interesting uses I could think of.

drone-1

drone-2

Tempelhof heat

Now that we’re into some cooler weather, I thought I’d point out the day some idiot (me) decided it was a good idea to go test out his new inline skates at 34° C! This was the hottest day of the year so far, and I think I’ll go find some place with shade or water next time :) Whizzing around on searing hot asphalt doesn’t lend itself well to staying cool ;) Thanks to Robinson and Anna for a great day out though :)

Mountain climbing in Berlin

I cycled up the tallest, most fearsome peak in the whole of Berlin at midnight last night. Teufelsberg is a 120 m high mountain in the former West Berlin, built from 75,000,000 m3 of rubble deposited there after the war. Buried underneath the mountain is an incomplete Nazi military-technical school designed by Albert Speer.

The USA’s NSA organisation decided it would be a great idea to build one of their largest spy installations on top of the mountain during the 1960’s. The original spy domes and their protective fencing are still there.

I can neither confirm nor deny if someone may have breached the outer perimeter to inspect the domes at close range ;)

The dome

The moon was so bright that we could barely see any stars out.

The entrance to the domes

This is the entrance to the facility.

Our group of explorers

Our group of explorers admiring the domes in all their moonlit glory.

Barbed wire surrounding the dome

There is double barbed wire fencing surrounding the top of the hill to protect the domes. Guards roam the grounds 24/7, so anyone entering after hours should be super careful.

The dome

The domes looked beautiful in front of the full-moon.