Germany is home to numerous forgotten sites that bear witness to faded grandeur and turbulent history. An overview highlights 12 particularly captivating lost places, from bunkers and sanatoriums to castle ruins and industrial facilities. These locations provide insights into bygone eras and attract adventurers and history enthusiasts.
Lost places in Germany captivate with their decay and the stories they hold. The Von-der-Heydt Tower in Wuppertal, inaugurated in 1892 and closed since 1978, stands 20 meters tall as a Renaissance monument in the woods. On Helgoland, the Oberland bunker complex served as a fortress during the Nazi era; in 1945, 2000 people sought shelter from British bombers and survived two days 18 meters underground. Today, it is part of the museum with guided tours.
The Schlosshotel Waldlust in Freudenstadt in the Black Forest was a luxury hotel for high society in the 1930s, converted into a military hospital during World War II, and now shrouded in ghost stories with dusty furniture and alleged apparitions. The Beelitz Sanatorium near Berlin, founded in the late 19th century as a lung clinic, served as a military hospital in both world wars and offers tours of the abandoned surgery and laundry.
The Freisebad in Görlitz, built in 1887 by Walter Freise and closed in 1996, was the city's largest bath and served as a set for Wes Anderson's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'. Munich's Olympiastadion ghost station, constructed for the 1972 Olympics, was shut down in 1988 after an accident and is being reclaimed by nature, including rare plants.
In the Neandertal, car dealer Michael Fröhlich arranged 50 1950s vintage cars in a 20,000 square meter woodland, open Sundays for 10 euros. Frankfurt's old police headquarters has stood empty since 2002 and offers flashlight tours until 2026. The Dwasieden castle ruins on Rügen, built in the 19th century by Adolph von Hansemann, were demolished after the war.
Wünsdorf near Berlin, the 'forbidden city', was a military site from World War I to the Soviet era. The Grabowsee lung sanatorium in Brandenburg, with 420 beds for tuberculosis patients, served as a Soviet hospital and film set for 'The Monuments Men' and 'Heilstätten'. The Vockerode power plant in Saxony-Anhalt, closed in 1998, is accessible only from the outside as an industrial ruin.
