As a part of the Abandoned Berlin series I shot for Urban Outfitters Europe (see post
here), I ventured off for the exploration of an old children's hospital in Weissensee, Berlin.
Setting foot off the tram, my urbex partner and I quickly navigated our way to the fence enclosing the hospital complex. All the gates were locked as far as we could get around the fence and we didn't know of another way in. With the fence being on the edge of a busy main road in front of frequently changing traffic lights, we were a little hesitant. However, as the fence wasn't very high, we had a boost of adrenalin and jumped over regardless of the onlookers, quickly running into the building.
We were greeted by a large spacious foyer leading onto an outdoor pathway into another building, and rooms either side and stairways. It seemed the place was a bit of a maze so we took the direction towards the stairs first and made our way through little rooms plastered with graffiti, and up into the roof. A little set of stairs looked down upon burnt beams that had caved in, and the charred wood covered in vibrant powder paint and confetti, clearly after a party had taken place.
We often heard voices throughout the buildings and startled other explorers equipped with lights from their phones and nothing much else other than a sense of adventure. After exchanging details with strangers of what we had been finding (and them telling us a more discrete way of entry), we continued on separate journeys, up and down dark stair wells with no clue of what could be laying ahead.
Dodging collapsed ceilings and tip toeing past holes in the floor, using the flashes on our cameras to light up blacked out rooms, finding ourselves on rusty balconies with overgrown vines and directing ourselves through the woodland to the various buildings around, we were in awe of the incredible derelict buildings surrounding us.
Previous to the trip we had both seen photos of rooms covered in graffiti that resembled wallpaper, with patterns of neon hearts, lightning strikes, and bananas to name a few. It was our mission to find these rooms, and we almost gave up when we noticed a small building we hadn't been into yet. It was such an exciting feeling when through the broken windows we could make out walls covered in carrots, trees and daisies. Inside it was like being in a fairground ride, a maze of crazy coloured rooms with the shapes causing your eyes to feel dizzy.
We left the hospital complex around the back, over a fence in front of a block of flats, as we had been told by fellow explorers in the buildings. There were only a couple of people around, and although they were staring at us with cautious looks, we left unscathed and excited about our adventure, full of ideas for further shoots we could do there with models.
Overall, this place is a definite must-see for any urban explorers with a taste for adventure. The pure vastness of it could give you hours and hours of time to get lost in. Though, I would recommend bringing an extra large memory card for photos!
See the Urban Outfitters blog post
HERE
