Beelitz-Heilstätten Sanatorium

Beelitz-Heilstätten a district of the town, is home to a large hospital complex of about 60 buildings including a cogeneration plant erected from 1898 on according to plans of architect Heino Schmieden. This complex of buildings was an almost self contained village dedicated to health and wellness. Originally designed as a sanatorium by the Berlin workers’ health insurance corporation, the complex from the beginning of World War I was a military hospital of the Imperial German Army. During October and November 1916, Adolph Hitler recuperated at Beelitz-Heilstätten after being wounded in the leg at the Battle of the Somme.

In 1945, Beelitz-Heilstätten was occupied by Red Army forces, and the complex remained a Soviet military hospital until 1995, well after the German reunification. In December 1990, Erich Honecker was admitted to Beelitz-Heilstätten after being forced to resign as the head of the East German government.

Following the Soviet withdrawal, attempts were made to privatize the complex, but they were not entirely successful. Some sections of the hospital remain in operation as a neurological rehabilitation center and as a center for research and care for victims of Parkinson’s disease. The remainder of the complex, including the surgery, the psychiatric ward, and a rifle range, was abandoned in 1994. As of 2007, none of the abandoned hospital buildings or the surrounding area were secured, giving the area the feel of a ghost town.

Rusty beds, vine-covered buildings and empty corridors with walls covered in graffiti and slowly peeling paint are what remains of a gigantic hospital which once treated Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, after it was abandoned in the fall of East Germany.

While most abandoned buildings looks like they’re haunted, they’re really just the derelict remains of mansion that a family struggled to sell or the shell of an old warehouse. But the history behind Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital is actually as creepy as it looks.

Beelitz-Heilstätten has been used as a film set for Oscar winner movies like The Pianist in 2002, the 2008 Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie, and the music video for Rammstein’s “Mein Herz Brennt”

My girlfriend Heather and I explored this beautiful place with rich history during the summer of 2018; And below are some pictures from our exploration of Beelitz-Heilstätten , were taken and edited by me.

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Info source/credit : dailymail.co.uk, wikipedia.org and popularmechanics.com