Germany's history is fascinating, marked by both dark times and great achievements. Along the way, many buildings, bridges and bunkers have all borne witness to significant events from the country’s past, and these 31 abandoned places have lived to tell the tale – but only just. We'll tell you which places you can visit, but assume others are unsafe to enter unless stated otherwise.
Read on to discover the eerie abandoned places that all have a tale to tell….
A Cold War relic and former radio tower, Teufelsberg stands at what used to be the highest point in West Berlin, atop a manmade hill forged of debris from the Second World War (Teufelsberg means ‘Devil’s Mountain’ in English). From here, the United States’ National Security Agency would spy on the Soviet Union, intercepting satellite transmissions and communication channels. These days it remains an ominous spectacle, but is much more welcoming – a popular sunset-gazing spot, with its own panoramic terrace and street art gallery.
Constructed in 1887, the Friesebad was founded by Doctor Walter Friese, a medical councillor, to provide bathing facilities for industrial workers whose homes were not yet equipped with such luxuries. He believed in not only the hygienic properties of regular bathing, but also its more holistic health benefits. However, the establishment never recovered after the fall of the Berlin Wall, despite efforts to diversify. It was abandoned in 1996 and has sat practically empty ever since – though scenes from Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel were filmed here during the 2010s.
One of Germany’s most famous abandoned places is this old sanatorium, which treated patients with fatal lung conditions such as tuberculosis between 1898 and 1930. Made up of around 60 buildings, the complex also served as a military hospital from the start of the First World War until 1995. Hitler even spent time recuperating here after the Battle of the Somme, which left him with an injured leg and temporary blindness due to a gas attack. Today, part of the site is open to ticket holders and there’s a treetop walkway you can follow too.
This former grand hotel in the Black Forest once hosted kings and celebrities, but nowadays you’re more likely to see it in German horror films. Built in 1902, Schlosshotel Waldlust has passed through numerous owners over its 100-plus years, including a woman known simply as ‘Adele B’, who died a violent death here in 1949 and is said to still haunt the corridors. The building was converted into a military hospital after her demise, but closed for good in 2005 and fell into disrepair. It remains a cultural monument.
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In 1936, the world was watching when Berlin hosted the first televised Summer Olympics. The Games became a vehicle for Nazi propaganda, with Jewish and Black athletes actively discouraged from participating. This purpose-built Olympic complex was ironically nicknamed ‘the village of peace’ by Hitler and was taken over by his army once the tournament ended. After the Second World War, it was used by the Soviet army until 1994, when it was abandoned. Plans to develop parts of the disused site are currently underway.
Once regarded as the most opulent house on Rugen Island, Dwasieden Castle was completed in 1877 and considered a masterpiece at the time – being the only building in all of northern Germany to be made out of marble, granite and limestone. It evolved into a playground for royalty, intellectuals and creatives, later becoming a refugee camp after the Second World War. The Soviet Army blew it up in 1948 and the castle now stands in ruins, reclaimed by nature. Past proposals for its reconstruction appear to have fallen through.
Spreepark’s fall from grace came in 2002 when it was shuttered after going bust. It became a graveyard of graffiti, rusting roller coasters and forgotten amusements, which was a far cry from its golden days during the Communist era. Back then, the theme park was known as the VEB Kulturpark Planterwald and saw approximately 1.7 million visitors a year. It is currently being reconceptualised as a new public art, culture and nature park due for completion in 2026. Original Spreepark features like the Ferris wheel will be retained, yet repurposed. A new catering and art space is already open.
Another Cold War remnant, this underground auxiliary hospital is the last of its kind in the town of Gunzenhausen. Concealed beneath a vocational school, it was constructed between 1963 and 1965 as an emergency medical facility in the event of a major incident in one of the nearby large cities. It was battle-ready for over 30 years, with 600 beds and the capacity to help 1,400 patients at once. The hospital provided shelter to refugees and displaced peoples for a short time, but was decommissioned in 1996. An official guided tour is available.
In 1994, the former military base in this garrison town became deserted when the Soviets withdrew their numbers after Germany’s reunification, though a statue of Lenin still resides. Once known as the 'Forbidden City', Wunsdorf had prior to that been used as an imperial military training ground and by the Wehrmacht (armed forces of the Third Reich). The complex, including its bunkers and the Officers' House, can be explored today on a variety of different guided tours.
From a distance, you may think St. Nicholas is an ordinary church. But despite its spire still defiantly standing, a closer look reveals a different story. Built in 1874, the church was the tallest building in the world for a while and welcomed a dedicated congregation, until 1943 when the building was bombed. Mostly destroyed beyond repair, the hollow carcass of the church tower remained structurally sound and today, visitors can take a lift up to the top. Also within the ruins lies a museum, and quiet corners for contemplation and remembrance.
During the Second World War, two flak towers were erected in a 19th-century park at the behest of Hitler. Topping an air-raid shelter below, these imposing constructions were built quickly using forced labour and fitted out with anti-aircraft guns to help defend the city. Having been largely wrecked to accommodate the towers, the park was restored in the 1950s and visitors can still enjoy it today. Both flak towers were spared demolition – climb to the top of the northernmost one in summer for a great view over Berlin.
In another life, Landschaftspark was an iron and steel plant, founded in 1901. After 84 years of service, it was abandoned when demand for steel decreased, and the ominous metal works were left creaking in the wind and creating pollution. That was until the idea came to clean up the site and transform it into a unique urban park, illuminated by neon light at night to accentuate the industrial plant’s knotted shapes and intriguing angles. It is open year-round, with blast furnaces, bunkers and other features on constant display.
The ribcage of this former gas storage tank has loomed over Berlin since 1901, withstanding both world wars and the Cold War before becoming defunct by 1995. While in use, it housed an expandable chamber which held gas to power the city. For many years after its abandonment, the walkways of this cylindrical tower could be scaled by anyone with a good head for heights, rewarding them with 360-degree views. The gasometer is currently being redeveloped as part of the EUREF campus, but its iconic framework will be preserved.
Kraftwerk Vockerode was a lignite-fired power plant that became known as ‘the stranded steamer on the Elbe’, due to its distinctive shape and quartet of chimneys. It was a working outfit from 1938 to 1994, with its chimneys getting demolished in 2001 in response to safety concerns. The building remains empty, and those doing the Coal-Steam-Light-Lakes cycle route between Lutherstadt Wittenberg and Leipzig can catch a glimpse on their way through the town.
Dominating Berlin’s Steglitz neighbourhood is this wildly futuristic structure, whose name translates as ‘beer brush’ and was supposedly inspired by its boozy opening back in 1976. Yet it has been abandoned since 2006 after a string of unsuccessful stints as a restaurant and nightclub. An attempt was made to revive it in 2010 as an art gallery-turned-cafe, but this unfortunately flopped as well. The tower, which received protected status in 2017, is now waiting to be given a fresh start by its new owners.
Originally a network of four iron railway bridges constructed between 1890 and 1896, the Liesenbrucken now only count two in their number after the others were replaced with more contemporary overpasses in the mid-Fifties. The remaining couple, despite being protected monuments, have been left to rust without carrying a single train on their tracks for seven decades. They hang above a roundabout just north of Berlin’s city centre. A planning application has been made in recent years, proposing the conversion of the largest bridge into a hotel.
One of the most recently abandoned places on this list is Tegel Airport, which was legally decommissioned in 2021 in favour of the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Tegel was reportedly congested, outdated and a source of great disturbance for local residents, so its closure was a long time coming. In 1948, when the Soviet Union had blockaded Berlin, it was established on Stalin’s orders as an interim airfield to serve the Allied Forces. It soon became the city’s main airport, but currently its obsolete terminals are being used as a temporary accommodation for refugees fleeing Ukraine.
Located just outside Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the inaccessible ruins of this bread factory further exemplify the horrors of the Nazi regime. Prisoners of the camp were forced to build and work in the 'bakery' during the Second World War, where up to 40,000 loaves were made daily to feed captives at Sachsenhausen and their SS incarcerators. Following the liberation of Sachsenhausen, the Red Army used the facility to feed survivors before it became a conventional bakery until 1991, when it was abandoned after reunification.
Built in 1768 for saddle-maker Peter Friedrich Damm, this grand lakeside retreat was abandoned for the first time after his death. It then passed through several owners before British-Jewish businessman Harry Goodwin Hart (director of what is now Unilever) was forced to sell up to the Nazis. Post-war, after being taken over by the Stasi and later used as a hotel and filming location, the castle ultimately fell into disrepair. It is now being renovated, though there are reportedly still some abandoned buildings in the grounds.
It was meant to be Hitler’s crowning glory – a 50,000-seat auditorium on the scale of Rome’s Colosseum and the most monstrous of all the Nazi party rally grounds. But despite construction work beginning apace in the 1930s, Nuremberg’s Kongresshalle was never finished. Left to stand half-built for the rest of time after the Second World War caused its abandonment, the arena became a cultural landmark. Today, visitors can visit the Documentation Center at the Kongresshalle, a museum charting the history of the city’s party rallies as well as the infamous Nuremberg trials.
Flugplatz Johannisthal was one of the world’s first motor airfields when it opened in 1909, but no planes have taxied on its runway since 1995. Johannisthal is connected to Germany's first woman aviator, Amelie 'Melli' Beese, who was taught how to fly here. In 1919, Germany’s first air passenger service also departed from Johannisthal. The history-making airfield ultimately lost its shine and its operations were transferred to other airports. Now, some of the site has been turned into a park, but there are disused hangars and other industrial features still standing.
This striking post-Expressionist building has had a number of differing functions over the years. Beginning life as a rowing and recreation centre in 1930s, the Wehrmacht then acquired it in 1940 for use as an auxiliary hospital during the war, in which it sustained some damage. After the Nazis were defeated, the property became a Soviet and then East Germany-held radio broadcasting house, training school and recording studios. After being auctioned off and later taken over by urban artists, the Funkhaus is now a derelict, boarded-up shell.
No stranger to the limelight, the Rudersdorf chemical factory has appeared in several music videos and Hollywood movies (such as The Monuments Men) since its closure in 1999. But in the beginning, 100 years before that, the plant was used as a much less glamourous cement factory. With tensions ramping up in Europe, the factory’s efforts were redirected towards producing bauxite for the Nazi regime. When the war ended, Rudersdorf changed course again and started dealing in phosphates and agrochemicals until it ceased operations.
Set on the picturesque shores of Lake Schwerin, the Zippendorf Spa Hotel should have been a smash hit with tourists visiting northern Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. But its life was fraught with obstacles and the complex ended up changing hands frequently, serving as everything from a military hospital to a sports clubhouse. Though repeated attempts have been made to revive it, none have ever succeeded. The building has listed status but remains vacant, with no known plans for that to change any time soon.
After it was abandoned in 1952, the Tempelhof railway marshalling yard was slowly repossessed by nature. The area became so abundant with wildlife that, since 2000, it has been known as Natur-Park Sudgelande – an urban park with a twist. In among the trees and insects are various ghosts from the site’s former life, including an old steel water tower, a turntable and a 1930s Class 50 locomotive, as well as contemporary art installations and lookout posts. There are several trails and tours you can take through the park, which is open daily.
To combat the economic implications of small unsustainable factories during the 1920s, Hansa coking plant was one of 17 such large-scale operations founded in Germany's Ruhr region. It was one of the most significant outfits of its kind, active between 1928 and 1992. At its peak, the plant could produce up to 5,200 tonnes of coke per day from local pit coal. Visitors are welcome at Hansa, which is now a recognised monument and museum and also lies on the Industrial Heritage Trail.
Dotted around the historic town of Juterbog are abandoned scraps of a military complex that quite literally helped build an empire. The Prussian army first started shaping this landscape when it practiced shooting and manoeuvres here circa 1860, then the proclamation of the German Empire (or Second Reich) in 1871 solidified Juterbog's position as a vital military asset. Pre-Second World War, it became the biggest troop-training centre in Germany and, later, one of the Soviets' main bases. Various camps and other properties have been left decaying since 1994.
Like Beelitz-Heilstatten, this now withered medical facility, founded in 1896, began life as a place to treat those suffering from tuberculosis. It also served as a Red Cross sanatorium for working class people and later a military hospital, before being abandoned – albeit not quite forgotten. There have reportedly been campaigns for Heilstatte Grabowsee's restoration since 2005, which may soon be coming to fruition. It also appeared in The Monuments Men movie in 2014.
After Munich won the bid for the 1972 Olympic Games, a train station was built to provide fans with an easy transport link to the newly created Olympic Stadium. The station was first used for the opening match between the German DFF team and what was then the Soviet Union team. However, after the 1988 European Football Championship, the building was decommissioned. The tracks were removed in 2003 and the site is now an empty, overgrown wasteland.
The Domjuch Asylum was originally used as a psychiatric facility, but during the Nazi era, it served as a transit station for thousands of mentally and physically disabled men, women and children before sending them to their deaths. The buildings fell into disrepair after the Second World War, but since 2010 the site has been used for tours, concerts and theatre performances. In 2019 the ARTBASE Festival saw 150 international artists and five Berlin collectives transform the buildings inside and out with stunning street and graffiti art.
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