Zombie hospital
Kinderkrankenhaus Weißensee: Running out of patients
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.
Now they call it home, making it a zombie hospital. Zombie ambulances ferry sick and injured zombies to their care, and after they patch them up and resuscitate their ailing comrades, they eat their brains, too. Braaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnns. Or rather, Gehiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrne… They’re German zombies after all.
Like the zombies, the hospital itself is incurable. Not even intensive care could save it now. Vandals set the place alight so often it gained the dubious distinction of being one the most arson-attacked in Berlin. It’s a regular pastime for the gobshites who evidently have no sense of history for the “protected” buildings they’re helping to destroy.
Like others I’ve mentioned before, the Säuglings- und Kinderkrankenhaus Weißensee was under Denkmalschutz as a listed building, but that didn’t prevent the investors who purchased it in 2005 from letting it fall to the ground as they went back on promises made to procure it from the city.
Allegedly a front for Russian investors, MWZ Bio-Resonanz GmbH said it was going to build a cancer-treatment center here, but the powers that be could only watch helplessly as the company did precisely nothing after buying it.
The state-owned Liegenschaftsfonds Berlin tried for years to rescind the sale before success came in 2015 when Landgericht Berlin, a regional court, awarded the property back to the city. Local politicians celebrated by declaring plans for apartments.
The Kinderkrankenhaus’ story begins in March 1908, when it was decided to build Prussia’s first municipal children’s hospital to help combat rising infant mortality rates at the time.
Construction got underway in June 1909, overseen by the prominent architect Carl James Bühring. He built a load of stuff in Berlin and then later in Leipzig.
On July 8, 1911, the hospital was inaugurated amid great fanfare on what was then-called Kniprodeallee. It had a little park for therapeutic purposes and – best of all – milk production facilities, with a cowshed, dairy and everything needed for milk storage and transportation.
Not only was the hospital considered one of the best of its kind anywhere, but it hosted the Third International Congress for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality from September 11-15 that same year.
Of course, more buildings were added down the years, as can be discerned from their varying and contrasting styles, but the cows’ facilities were done away with in 1920. Well, they catered instead to the city.
Later, in 1965, they became part of a dairy farm in nearby Heinersdorf. I presume they weren’t using the same cows or the milk must have been fairly sour.
The hospital was again expanded with a new wing in October 1987, but the whole thing was cruelly shut down after 85½ years of service to Berlin’s newest arrivals on January 1, 1997.
It’s been lying idle ever since, punished repeatedly by weather and brainless zombies who insist on burning it. Bruised, battered and burnt, it pines for the days it used to welcome brand new little people into the world and care for bigger little people who suffered misfortunes.
But its lifeblood is denied and the property speculators’ talons are already deep. Workers were already on site at the last time of writing. The zombies’ days are finally numbered.
LOCATION AND ACCESS (HOW TO FIND GUIDE)
What: Abandoned maternity and children’s hospital, the first municipal one of its kind in Prussia, and surely only one of the very few to have had its own cow facilities and dairy. Left to suffer the ignominy of vandalism and weather-induced decay before property sharks deliver the final insult.
Where: Hansastraße 178-180, 13088 Berlin (Weißensee).
How to get there: I just cycled there, the best way to get anywhere in this city. If your bike was stolen, however, (the biggest drawback of having a bike in this city), you can get the M4 tram from Alexanderplatz to the Buschallee/Hansastraße stop and walk from there. It’s just a stone’s throw away. Here’s a map so you know what to aim at.
Getting in: This place was so desperate for love and attention it was practically inviting people in. The gate was locked and secured from time to time, oftentimes unlocked and unsecured again. But there was always a convenient hole in the fence to be found. They moved with the times. Now, with workers on the site, those good times are harder to find.
When to go: Go when the builders aren’t there, but be very very careful if you go at night. Several people have been badly injured at this site.
Difficulty rating: 4/10. For now. Expect this rating to go up.
Who to bring: It’s not really that romantic a setting anymore, but if abandoned hospitals are your thing, then by all means, bring your girlfriend/boyfriend. Otherwise just like-minded explorers would suffice.
What to bring: Camera, beer, a decent torch, brains for the zombies.
Dangers: Builders are a worry now. Manholes are worth looking out for. Then there’s the ceilings which are liable to collapse on your head. The buildings are neither safe nor stable. The place was inhabited by a few unfortunate homeless, but I’m sure they’d leave you alone as long as you left them alone. Obviously watch out for any nosy neighbors, Polizei etc. Be suspicious of anyone who invites you to go along with them. They might be after your braaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnns…
Filed 19/8/2013 | Updated 16/4/2020