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.
Banana Bunker
A former air-raid shelter built by forced laborers became the Banana Bunker during DDR days. Now it’s an exclusive art gallery – still monkey business.
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.
Buzludzha!
A strange UFO perches on a mountaintop in deepest darkest Bulgaria. Buzludzha, the country’s former communist party HQ, has to be seen to be believed.
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.
Kino Hubertus' ruined villas
Two houses and a cinema clung to life in Waidmanslust, fighting loneliness with earthly possessions before they too went their inevitable way.
Flugplatz Schönwalde
Germany's Luftwaffe used Flugplatz Schönwalde for the war. The Soviets took over afterward and left their traces after abandoning the airfield in 1992.
Bierpinsel
Perhaps the weirdest of Berlin’s buildings, abandoned or not, is the hideously attractive Bierpinsel in Steglitz. It sticks out like a walrus in a tutu.
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.
Kladow Casino
The Kladow casino enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s. Now it's just a shell languishing near the shore of the Havel. But some people are gambling on it opening again one day.
Sporthotel Hohenschönhausen
The Sporthotel und Kongresszentrum des Sportforums Hohenschönhausen is in a sorry state, beyond salvation, thrashed and abused. Not even drugs can help.
Hohenschönhausen refugee homes
Hohenschönhausen's refugee homes, formerly living quarters for "guest workers" who helped build the DDR, don't welcome anyone anymore.
Haus der Statistik
Haus der Statistik looms over Berlin's Alexanderplatz with STOP WARS across its bow in big red letters. The DDR's former statistics HQ is right to be angry.
Stasi Hotel
East Germany checked out right before the Stasi could check in. Their hotel was never completed. Now it's just a great hulking ruin between the trees.