Stories
Teufelsberg Tale
Lew McDaniel of West Virginia worked as a linguist at Teufelsberg, Field Station Berlin, from 1968-71. He tells Abandoned Berlin of life at the spy station.
Zambia Embassy
Berlin’s “lion on the loose” has holed up at the abandoned Zambian embassy. She’s seeking asylum from the CDU. AB got an exclusive interview.
Iraqi embassy
They must have just left the Iraqi Embassy to the DDR with no notice. “We’re leaving. Pack your bags and get out!” The party at Saddam's house was over.
Siemensbahn
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.
Liesenbrücken
The Liesenbrücken, fine industrial iron bridges built by the Prussian state railway operator, have been abandoned for almost 70 years.
Garbáty Zigarettenfabrik
Garbáty's Zigarettenfabrik was brought to its knees by Nazi persecution. East Germany appropriated the cigarette factory till that ended too.
The Berlin Wall's escape
It was a "small sensation" to find 80 meters of the original Berlin Wall among a bunch of secretive trees that imagined they could keep it hidden forever.
Bärenquell Brauerei
Bärenquell was one of Berlin's popular beers renowned for taste. So it's hard to understand why the brewery went bust. Perhaps the bears drank all the beer.
Volkspolizeikaserne Blankenburg
In the DDR's final days, Volkspolizei and Stasi officers arrested protestors and brought them to this police barracks in Blankenburg to brutally beat them.