Deep in the forests of Brandenburg lies a "forbidden" city. Until 30 years ago, the area around Jüterbog was a strictly off-limits military powerhouse. Today, it is a labyrinth of collapsing barracks, moss-covered concrete, and Cyrillic graffiti. Take a look inside the former "Capital of the Occupiers," an intriguing world of decay that tells the story of Germany’s turbulent 20th century.
A town within a restricted zone – that was Jüterbog, just a few kilometers from the border of Saxony-Anhalt, for more than a century. Even today, countless remnants of a nearly forgotten chapter of German history lie hidden in the surrounding forests.
The soviet smell
As if trying to blend into its surroundings, an old jacket has sunk deep into the dirty soil. Its outline is barely recognizable, hardly any of the olive green remains – that hue which still evokes memories for many East German citizens. Machorka tobacco, leather, garlic, and gun oil – the smell still seems to linger in the air.
Even here, in the former generator hall of the Soviet barracks "Neues Lager" near Jüterbog (Brandenburg), where the jacket lies in the oily dust.
Until almost 30 years ago, the entire complex on what is now Federal Highway 102, less than 15 kilometers from the border with Saxony-Anhalt, was strictly off-limits.
The old and the new Camp
The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) maintained the 460th Military Hospital of the 20th Guards Army here in the so-called New Camp. Nearby, in the Old Camp, was an air force barracks; a few kilometers further on, in Forst Zinna, a tank battalion was stationed.
Around Jüterbog were bombing ranges, special storage facilities for nuclear weapons, and extensive military training areas.
In total, until the end of the GDR, almost two-thirds of the town, first mentioned in 1007 as "Jutriboc," was used for military purposes. But the roots of this long garrison history lie much deeper than the Cyrillic characters still found in the ruins today would suggest.
Hitler's rise to power
As early as the end of the 18th century, the Prussian army purchased land here for its airship hangars. In 1890, artillery schools were relocated from Berlin to Jüterbog. With Hitler's rise to power, military expansion accelerated: The SS established the "Adolf Hitler Camp" in the Zinna Forest, the airfield was expanded, and the Wehrmacht built "Jüterbog 2," a separate district reserved exclusively for officers and soldiers.
Jüterbog lived with and off the military. The brick houses from the Imperial era now stand next to the moss-covered concrete buildings of the Third Reich. After 1945, the Soviet Army added its typical whitewashed brick buildings. Grass - and an entire forest - has long since grown over everything in the New Camp.
Collapsed roofs
Roofs have collapsed, trees have broken through walls and ceilings. Graffiti artists have claimed the sprawling complex as their territory.
Although the area is gated from the road, it is considered one of the most intriguing destinations for exploration among enthusiasts of so-called "lost places," as its sheer size makes it virtually impossible to secure completely.
A thick layer of dust, centimeters thick, lies on the relics of a century of war and garrison history.
More soldiers than civilians
Jüterbog's local historian, Henrik Schulze, has calculated that the garrison of this small town of 12,000 inhabitants was at times the largest in East Germany. Around 40,000 soldiers and officers were stationed in and around Jüterbog. Since the troops were rotated annually, approximately 1.6 million Soviet soldiers are estimated to have served in Jüterbog and the surrounding area until the withdrawal of the Western Group of Forces in 1994.
Today, only traces remain: a piece of aluminum cookware, oil slicks in puddles, a sign in the former bakery listing ingredients and baking times for yeast dough. The floorboards disappeared from the soldiers' quarters - removed by local residents - and scrap metal thieves took any copper cables they could find.
Part of the former military area around Jüterbog is now used for civilian purposes. However, remediation work continues in the New Camp. Since 2004, a plant has been filtering chlorinated hydrocarbons from the groundwater - more than 41 tons so far. This process will have to continue for several more years.
