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.
Niederlehme TSL 44
Niederlehme's Treib- und Schmierstofflager 44, aka TSL 44, was a former oil and fuel storage facility used by Nazi Germany, then East Germany’s armed forces.
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.
Teufelsberg
The abandoned NSA Field Station from the frontline of the Cold War, used to spy on Soviet-controlled East Germany on the other side of the Berlin Wall.
Flugplatz Brand
Flugplatz Brand was strategically important for the Soviet Air Force. Thankfully its battalions of flying fighters remained on ice for the duration of the Cold War.
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.
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.
Cité Foch shopping center
Cité Foch’s closing down sale must have been something else. Everything must go! In the end, even the shopping center, cinema and leisure center had to go.
Funkhaus Grünau
Look for the ghosts of Soviet DJs and find raccoons. Expect the unexpected and you'll find it, just not the unexpected you expected at Funkhaus Grünau.
Fürstenberg's military traces
Years after he first visited, Lenin’s Soviet comrades brought him back to Germany for what they thought was a long haul. He still lingers in Fürstenberg.
Olympic village
The Olympic Games used to be the toast of the world. Berlin’s Olympics in 1936 were the most captivating games of all, albeit for all the wrong reasons.
Königin-Elisabeth-Hospital
Königin-Elisabeth-Hospital saw better days, days when it used to care. Don’t bother expecting treatment now unless you need a roof falling on your head.
Karlshorst
The Soviet military had its administration HQ in Karlshorst, near where Generelfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel signed the unconditional surrender of German troops.
Fighting City
The British built "Fighting City" so their soldiers could learn the subtle art of urban combat. It wasn’t abandoned for long before the police took over.