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.
Olympic village
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Metallhütten und Halbzeugwerke
VEB Berliner Metallhütten und Halbzeugwerke was spewing all sorts of contaminated evil crap into the Spree river until the plug was pulled on it in 1990.
Flugplatz Rangsdorf
Flugplatz Rangsdorf was the airfield from which Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg flew off with a bomb for Hitler as part of the unsuccessful July 20 plot.
Heilstätten Hohenlychen
Horrific experiments on concentration camp prisoners were carried out at Heilstätten Hohenlychen, formerly a complex of sanatoriums, then military hospital.
Flugplatz Sperenberg and Kummersdorf
Sperenberg was considered the ideal site for Berlin’s long overdue shiny new airport until the powers-that-be opted to build it beside Schönefeld instead.
War-torn ruin
Professor August Hinderer’s beautiful house has been in ruins since it was hit by bombs one night in March 1944. Trees are growing where the roof should be.
Heeresbekleidungsamt
Bernau’s Heeresbekleidungsamt or “Army Clothing Agency” was where the Nazis had uniforms made for the war effort. No running around in rags for these guys.
Elisabeth-Sanatorium
The Elisabeth-Sanatorium was built over 100 years ago, when many such facilities near Berlin treated TB patients. In DDR times, it became a top skin clinic.
Waldhaus Buch
Waldhaus Buch continued as a TB sanatorium until its patients fell victim to the Nazis’ euthanasia program to make room for wounded soldiers during the war.
Ballhaus Grünau
Lamentably, it’s the end of Grünau’s famous dance halls, the Ballhaus Riviera and Gesellschaftshaus Grünau. The last dance is but a distant fading memory.
Wolfswinkel paper mill
Monsters now call the abandoned paper factory of Wolfswinkel home, transforming it into a magical fantasy land only the intrepid dare enter.
Neukölln kids’ hospital
The Kinderkrankenhaus is krank and no one’s there to provide the cure. No wonder the little souls of the children left behind are desperate for visitors.