The German Road Trip, Part 1. The Children’s Hospital, Weissensee. September 2020

Well after having had my UE road trip travel plans to Estonia being thwarted three times this year due to “The Covid”, I decided to focus my attention on a less restrictive country.

The Fatherland beckoned; I have always enjoyed Germany having worked in Hamburg for a number of years, sadly in a time before I started this love of all things ancient. What joys I have missed.

I searched and found some native explorers and through the power of t’internet had some lengthy chats about the scene over there. I was gifted a number of known locations.

Basing myself in Berlin ( god I love Berlin), i hired a car for 9 days and set off on my odyssey. Driving on the wrong side of the road, going anti-clockwise on roundabouts, fighting for road space with cyclists, fuck me that was fun.

The Kinderkrankenhaus, known locally as the Zombie Hospital, I was told was an easy in. Through the broken fence panels; wrong! I had approached from the rear as instructed and walked the perimeter through the woods, these fence panels were new and not climbable, you know the sort,small gauge steel squares,spikey top, 6ft 6 inches high, impossible to get a foot hold. Despondent deflated I could see the buildings, I ended up on the main road, walking back to the car, thinking bollocks!

No way, never, really? Some kindly souls had kicked in the wooden panels on the front gate, sheesh! Let’s go.

Way back in March 1908, when this was Prussia, to help reduce rising infant mortality rates it was decided to construct its first municipal children’s hospital.

Construction eventually began in 1909, and the hospital opened its doors in July 1911.

In 1997, the powers that be shut the facility down and it has remained empty ever since. A German equivalent, listed building has seen subsequent legal wrangling and dubious ownership (think Russian Investors). Hmmm! Eventually the courts returned ownership to the city, with great pomp local politicians declaring that work or convert to apartments would begin.

We all know politicians lie: 5 years on it is still derelict and allegedly this us the most arson hit building in the city. Not much remains.

I apologise, time has past since I took the snaps,the upload order is pretty random, from basement to attic, of the main building, evidence of wanton vandalism, shitty tagging, and some spectacular graffiti.

I shall let you either gawp open mouthed or shake your head in disgust.

And this was only the half of it, time to move on to the other buildings, when making my way down I could hear raised voices,(on this occasion not in my head), and the sounds of hammering and thudding, tentatively taking a peep through a window......

.....a couple of workmen starting to repair and replace the only way of getting out!

Sometimes one has to be brazen, I stepped through the doorway into their line of sight shouted “ Guten Morgen” and carried on towards the next building. The reaction was as expected,the workmen started shouting and walking towards me.

I guess they wanted me to leave. In broken English and lots of German wildly gesticulating towards the entrance words like “verboten” and “politzei” were uttered.

“So I guess I can’t go over there and take photographs“? must have been outside their range of English I made my way out as demanded. Still it could have turned out worse.