Andrew Kirby

Rangsdorf Acrobatic Flight School

The Rangsdorf airfield began life in the 1930s as a "sports" flight school and an aircraft manufacturing facility for the airplane manufacturer known as Bücker. The airfield was known for daring and spectacular air shows where brave pilots, including Heinz Rühmann pushed their machines to the limits. During WW2 the site remained the manufacturing centre for Bücker but also hosted the German Air Force. In 1945 the Red Army took over the facility, and used to maintain and repair their aircraft until 1994. Today, much of the site remains in a state of decay, with most reminders of its history removed, decayed or painted over by graffiti artists. One or two reminders of the legacies of the past remain but they must be sought out amongst the vast sprawling hangars, halls, corridors and bunkers.

Many large manufacturing halls exist - their equipment long gone - removed by scrappers and scavengers only to leave the dust and debris behind. 

Although wider vistas of the halls are at first tempting there are a lot of smaller details which are interesting. The German photographers call these details "Motives" for which I believe the English translation is "Motif". I quite prefer the German "Motive" because is reminds me of "emotive" which means to arouse a feeling - and these details can certainly do that. You are left with little details from which your mind tries to extrapolate a bigger picture of life at Rangsdorf in former times. 

It seems that none of the Lost Places in Brandenberg would be complete without a theatre or a empty pool. There's no pool here (although there is a sports pavilion) but there is a theatre with one solitary seat from which to watch the presentation... 

As holes in the roof lead to dampness penetrating the concrete and thick carpets of moss grow on the floors, nature finds a foothold in reclaiming the buildings for itself and shards of light from broken windows provide energy to sustain new life amongst the ruins. 

Finally, the place plays host to ravers looking for a place to party and graffiti artists looking for a blank canvass on which to practice their arts before the site is secured by the government to preserve what remains of the history and a veritable treasure trove for photographers. 

Wünsdorf

Wünsdorf is a place I really enjoy photographing due to the variety of interesting buildings and artefacts.

This site was predominantly used for military purposes, built in 1910 as an infantry school for the German army. The site featured extensive barracks (now redeveloped into apartments). Military sports facilities were added in 1936 and were used for training athletes for the Berlin Olympics. The facility served as a base for the German Army's motorised unit, until the time of the russian occupation of the area, when Wünsdorf was abandoned and taken over by Soviet forces as a base for their training and operations. 

During Soviet times, the bathhouse was rebuilt and in later years a concrete structure added to the back of the main building. This structure is unsafe today and access is not possible - which is a shame as it would be interesting to explore. Wünsdorf had a reputation as a premier training facility for the Red Army and daily trains to Moscow were scheduled form Wünsdorf Waldstat station. During the GDR era the site was off-limits to East Germans and was like a small soviet town, featuring shops, school, leisure facilities and it's own radio transmitter. 

Beelitz-Heilstätten

The gallery Beelitz-Heilstätten was until recently an ongoing body of work, which has stopped as access to the location is no longer possible legally. 

Beelitz is one of those places that oozes history from the very fabric of the buildings as you explore the buildings. Buildings date from 1898 when the site was first developed as a tuberculosis sanatorium with separate clinics for men and women expanding from 600 beds to 1200 beds.

The campus was one of the first implementations of combined-heat-and-power where electricity was generated locally and the excess heat used for heating the buildings, providing a very efficient use of energy. Fresh food was deemed important for the recovering sick, and produce and meat were sourced from the surrounding grounds and the site included its own meat processing plant and bakery.  

During WW1 the site was repurposed as a military hospital accommodating 17,500 people between 1914 and 1918.  

WW2 saw extensive damage to the area, however the Red Army took over the site in 1945 after the Battle of Berlin, and turned it into the largest Russian military hospital operating outside of Russia, which operated until the early 1990s. Eric Honnecker was a patient here in December 1990 receiving treatment for liver cancer before he and his wife were relocated to Moscow in 1991. 

The owner of the site suffered insolvency in 2001 and the site fell into decay. More recently some parts of the buildings were use for art studios, and in 2008 the banks started finding buyers for the site. Meanwhile it has found use as filming location for film and TV. 

The site has something of a bad reputation for deaths - a serial killer murdered a mother and her baby here in 1991, a photographer killed his model while using the clinic buildings as a backdrop in 2008. Two years later in 2010 a man fell down a deep shaft approx four storeys high. In 2011 a homeless man living here was found hanged.  

I have visited the site a number of times and I could well believe the buildings are haunted. When I explored the buildings known amongst explorers as the "Witney Houston house" the security staff told me I was the only person on site that day, however the noises I heard led me to believe otherwise. Searching for the source of the noise was unsuccessful and whoever - or whatever it was eluded me. 

Most of the shots are taken with ultra wide angle zooms on a full frame camera. Particularly the Canon 8-15mm and Canon 11-24mm. I particularly like internal architectural shots where the perspective is 'square' and the wide angle curvature effect is removed by post processing to give a sense of space and emptiness. 

I also particularly look for different colour temperature of light to lead the view from cold to warm tones down a long corridor, for example. 

Now the last of the buildings have been sold for renovation and access is no longer possible. With redevelopment these buildings will become homes, offices and modern medical facilities in a beautiful setting. I just hope it is done sympathetically to maintain some of the history the exudes from the walls of this place. 

To view the full set of images, please view the Beelitz-Heilstätten gallery

Andrew Kirby September 2018