No trains have trundled the Siemensbahn railway line since 1980, not since it was abandoned due to a strike, dwindling passengers and an upstart U-Bahn.
Siemensbahn
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Flugplatz Oranienburg
Flugplatz Oranienburg served in the summer of 1944 as a test center for the legendary Horten Ho IX, the world’s first “stealth” bomber.
Liesenbrücken
The Liesenbrücken, fine industrial iron bridges built by the Prussian state railway operator, have been abandoned for almost 70 years.
Stasi spy station
The Stasi spy station Quelle 1 in Rhinow tapped fiber cable going from West Berlin 250km across the DDR to enemy state West Germany. Sneaky.
Garbáty Zigarettenfabrik
Garbáty’s Zigarettenfabrik was brought to its knees by Nazi persecution. East Germany appropriated the cigarette factory till that ended too.
Schloss Dammsmühle
Schloß Dammsmühle was a playground for more unsavory types than you could shake a stick at, from Nazis to Stasi officers. Now there are plans to revive it.
Flugplatz Johannisthal
One of the world’s first motor airfields when it opened in 1909. People used to flock to Flugplatz Johannisthal to see marvelous metal machines with wings actually fly.
Güterbahnhof Pankow
Former railroad yard in Pankow with two train turntables that used to handle up to 1,800 freight cars a day. Now it handles none. But that’s progress.
Pankow Schwimmhalle
Don’t jump in at the deep end of Pankow Schwimmhalle or you’ll land on your face with a mouthful of broken glass. No water since it was abandoned in 2002.
Submarine bunker Lager Koralle
Lager Koralle was the forest bunker that controlled Germany’s feared U-boat fleet during World War II, central command for its marauding submarines.
Zombie hospital
There’s a zombie hospital in Weißensee. It used to be for kids but they were all eaten, their brains gorged upon by the zombies that took their place.
Krampnitz
Krampnitz, former military training school for Nazis, then Russians, where Inglourious Basterds was filmed, now abandoned and awaiting exploration.
Freibad Lichtenberg (and BVG-Stadion)
Freibad Lichtenberg once hosted Olympic athletes before the 1936 games. Despite its historical importance, it was demolished without a care.
Flugzeughallen
Brash airplanes used to roar in and out of Fliegerstation Berlin-Friedrichsfelde’s Flugzeughallen in days after the land had been used for testing airships.
Luna-Lager bunker
A wartime bunker is all that’s left of the former Luna-Lager labor camp at Schönholzer Heide, now a grassy, pretty wild and pleasant 35-hectare park.