For decades, the air in the Harz mountains was filled with the laughter of 800 children at a time. Today, the only sound is the creak of rusty hinges and the rustle of ferns growing through the dining hall floor. The Buna Holiday Camp, once a crown jewel of GDR corporate recreation, has transitioned from a childhood paradise to a haunting "Lost Place."
Venture back to the legendary "Hunger Staircase" - 110 crumbling concrete steps that every pioneer had to conquer for a sip of tea. From the vibrant "Erich Weinert" summer sessions to the grim reality of winter paramilitary drills, this ten-hectare site holds the memories of generations, now rotting under a canopy of overgrown linden trees.
Inside the ruins of "Project Erich Weinert":
The 110-Step Gauntlet: Why the infamous "Hunger Staircase" remains the most vivid memory for thousands of former campers.
A Time Capsule in Decay: Inside the commercial kitchens and offices where delivery lists and stuffed animals have sat untouched for thirty years.
The Price of Freedom: How the fall of the Wall turned a multi-million mark resort into an unsellable ruin almost overnight.
From Pioneers to "Ruin Tourists": The strange afterlife of a site that saw everything from international youth exchanges to secret military training.
Take a walk through the forest of memories—before the weight of time collapses the last of the bungalows.
Tens of thousands of children from Saxony-Anhalt spent their school holidays here during the GDR era. Today, the former company holiday camp of the Buna Works stands empty. The infamous "Hunger Staircase" is overgrown, and the group barracks in the woods sag under the weight of the years.
There were 110 steps – each one climbed to get a drink. Across the parade ground, past the open-air stage, over two landings, and there they stood: the thermos containers filled with tea, from which tens of thousands of children drew their salvation from thirst year after year.
The young holidaymakers at the Buna company holiday camp in the Harz village of Friedrichsbrunn called the steep climb the "Hunger Staircase," a climb they had to manage three times a day, even if they weren't thirsty. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served at the top – initially in the old, and later in the new social building, which was completed shortly before the end of the GDR.
The Buna company holiday camp in the Harz village of Friedrichsbrunn called the steep climb the "Hunger Staircase." Today, the heavy red curtains flutter wearily in the autumn breeze. Ceiling tiles hang loosely from their sockets, forgotten stuffed animals rot among the ferns growing from the cracks.
Window sockets gape empty, doors creak rustily on their hinges. In the commercial kitchen, pans are rotting, and in old offices, delivery lists, inventory forms, and accounting sheets are still piled high. Ferns now cover the dining hall floor - a silent symbol of three decades of decay.
800 young guests per session
Once, the "Erich Weinert" summer camp was a vibrant place filled with children's voices. Around 800 children enjoyed their summer holidays here per session, totaling approximately 2,400 over the entire season. They were housed in 43 bungalows and seven dormitories, sheltered by tall deciduous trees and grouped around a large assembly area.
Legendary was the "Hunger Staircase," those 110 steps up to the dining hall and the tea thermoses - probably the most strenuous climb of the entire vacation. One of the old containers still stands rusting beside the stairs, which are now blocked by a fallen tree. The railing has collapsed, and the steps are crumbling. Only the concrete foundations remain of the open-air stage, where films and plays were once performed – moss-covered and overgrown with young linden trees.
Of Pioneers and Military Training
The "Martin Andersen Nexö" Pioneer Camp was established here as early as 1949. In 1953, the VEB Chemische Werke Buna (Buna Chemical Works) took over the site, which from then on was run as one of 48 central Pioneer Camps in the GDR. Initially, children and counselors slept in tents; later, permanent accommodations were built.
There were camp Olympics, night hikes, swimming in the gondola pond, and excursions to the Rosstrappe (Horse's Hoofprint). Groups from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Poland also regularly visited Friedrichsbrunn – a place founded in the 18th century by order of Frederick the Great.
Outside of the holiday season, the camp became a military training camp. Teenagers had to learn crawling, shooting, and marching here – a paramilitary preparation for the "defense of socialism."
The End of a Recreation Resort
Until the end of the GDR, millions of marks flowed into the approximately ten-hectare site on the Klobenbergbau-De. A new social building with a large kitchen was constructed, and two dormitory blocks had just been occupied in the summer of 1990. But the huge holiday complex no longer had a chance of survival.
After reunification, the state-owned enterprise was broken up, and funding dried up. Parents would now have had to pay 300 Deutsche Marks to place their child for two weeks – many preferred to travel to Spain, Austria, or Hungary. The Buna camp fell into disrepair, became overgrown, and the huts, some of which were made of asbestos, collapsed.
Investors were sought but never found. There were forced auctions and changes of ownership. Demolition would cost 1.8 million euros, according to estimates. At an auction a year ago, the site was sold for €186,000 to an anonymous buyer.
Today, the former summer camp is a field of ruins - a destination not only for ruin tourists but also for former campers who wander in awe through the forest of their own memories.
