Photos of my visit to Beelitz Heilstätten, the abandoned hospital near Berlin
The Beelitz Heilstätten was a hospital complex in Beelitz, a small town near Berlin. It was probably one of the best known lost places in Germany, and thus popular for urban exploration. But please mind my words: the Beelitz Heilstaetten was one of the most popular abandoned places because there’s only a small portion left. Many of the former hospital buildings were revitalized and turned into homes.
Luckily, I visited the abandoned hospital a few times between 2015 and 2018 before it was revitalized and could take some photos of the historical military hospital. So basically, the photos in this blog post are a trip to the past of the Beelitz Heilstätten, the abandoned military hospital complex near Berlin.
Table of Contents
- Know before you go to Beelitz Heilstätten
- Photos of the abandoned hospital
- How I photographed at the Beelitz Heilstätten with my iPhone
- Is Beelitz Heilstätten worth visiting?
Know before you go to Beelitz Heilstätten
Where are the Beelitz Heilstätten?
Beelitz is a small town located halfway between Berlin and Potsdam in Brandenburg. It’s about an hour by car or train from either of the two cities. Beelitz Heilstätten is actually a wooded district in the north-east of Beelitz.
What was the purpose of the Beelitz Heilstätten?
The Beelitz Heilstätten was opened in 1902 to treat lung diseases that were widespread back then. As the Beelitz Heilstätten were located in the pine woods of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, the fresh and clean air was believed to accelerate the overall healing process. Then came the first world war, during which it served as a military hospital for the imperial German army.
Why was the hospital abandoned?
After the end of World War II, the Red Army occupied parts of the heavily damaged Beelitz Heilstätten and used it as a hospital. Right after the German unification, the Soviets and the Red Army abandoned former East Germany and thus the Beelitz Heilstaetten were left to decay and became the most popular lost place in Germany.
Why are the Beelitz Heilstätten so famous?
There are a few reasons why the Beelitz Heilstätten are so famous. The first one is obviously because it was one of the best known and larges lost places in Germany.
It’s also well-known for the historical personalities who were treated here; e.g. Adolf Hitler was treated here after the was wounded in World War I and Erich Honecker, a communist politician who served as the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in the former GDR.
Lastly, the Beelitz Heilstätten were also famous as a filming location. Some movies and series filmed partially here were:
- Valkyrie (2011), starring Tom Cruise
- A cure for Wellness (2015)
- The Netflix Series “1899” (2022)
Fun fact: There’s a German horror movie called Heilstätten, which is set at the Beelitz Heilstätten. But it was filmed at the Heilstätten Grabowsee because, at the same time, the Beelitz was already occupied by another film production. Of course, I also visited this filming location. Read more about it in my blog post about the abandoned filming location Heilstätte Grabowsee.
Can I still visit the Beelitz Heilstätten?
Yes, you can visit a small part of the former military hospital complex. Specifically, buildings like the Alpenhaus that were preserved for the Beelitz Heilstätten canopy walk. You’ll see a photo of the Alpenhaus with its rooftop forest at Beelitz at the end of the blog post.
Photos of the abandoned hospital
Long Corridors
The hospital complex consisted of about 60 buildings. Many of them were huge, long, three-story buildings. Inside I found dozens of huge corridors with either half open or completely missing doors, broken windows and sometimes difficult but interesting light to photograph.
Huge corridor at the abandoned military hospital called Beelitz Heilstätten
The Auditorium
There was not much left of the furniture at the Beelitz Heilstätten. Occasionally, I found a room that contained a few remains like this auditorium. It was used as a classroom for educating and training the staff.
Abandoned auditorium at the Beelitz Heilstätten
Peeling Paint
What I found cool and interesting to photograph at the Beelitz Heilstätten was the peeling paint that I saw on many walls, like in this dark corner of the famous Whitney Houston House. But don’t be misled. The famous Singer Whitney Houston never performed here. The house got its name from an art performance dedicated to the famous Singer.
Paint peeling off the walls at the Beelitz Heilstätten
Decaying Structures
Though exploring such a huge abandoned place is fascinating and sometimes eerie, it's also dangerous, like this window frame illustrates. It could fall off any time. So as a rule of thumb, when you enter a lost place: Always look up if there's anything that could come down and do not try to open or close doors and windows.
A window frame falling off
Filming Location
If the Beelitz Heilstätten was used as a filming location, the parts of the building that would be visible in the film were superficially renovated. But if you’d open a door, you’d still encounter the decaying rooms behind them (PS: Sorry for the door!). To see more photos of this set, please head to my blog post about the filming location of a Cure for Wellness.
A former filming location at the Beelitz Heilstätten
Dark Areas
Each lost place has dark corners and rooms. So bring a flashlight to explore them and to take photos. Back then, I used flashlights from Olight to explore the Beelitz Heilstätten, but recently switched to a more powerful 12,000 lumens flashlight from Wuben. If you're curious, please check my review of the Wuben X1 flashlight. But on the other hand, you may not need a flashlight for taking photos in a lost place, because the darkness and harsh shadows can be used to compose interesting photos.
Dark corner in the basement
The Rooftop Forrest
At the former military hospital in Beelitz, you’ll also encounter a building with an entire forest growing on the roof! The building was heavily damaged during World War II and wasn’t used by the Red Army. This building is called Alpenhaus and it's one of the few buildings you can still see. I wrote about it in my blog post about the canopy walk at Beelitz Heilstätten
Experience this rooftop forest from the Beelitz Heilstätten canopy walk
How I photographed at the Beelitz Heilstätten with my iPhone
During my trips to the Beelitz Heilstätten I photographed with different iPhone models: An iPhone X, an iPhone 6s plus and an iPhone 6. The camera apps I used back then do not exist anymore. I used ProHDR and PureShot. As the iPhone was not capable of taking RAW photos back then, I used PureShot to save the photos in the lossless TIFF format. Today, I’d definitely take RAW photos with my iPhone. To learn more about my iPhone photography apps and accessories I use to photograph in lost places, please head to my blog post about my recommended iPhone camera apps and recommended iPhone photo editing apps that I use.
Is Beelitz Heilstätten worth visiting?
Yes, it's definitely worth visiting Beelitz Heilstätten. Though many of the decaying buildings are no more, you can still get a feeling about how urban exploration felt at the Beelitz Heilstätten when I visited this well known lost place.
Head over to the official website to learn more about how you can visit the Beelitz Heilstätten today.
