Weissensee, Berlin
2015 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. 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, 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. 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. 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. |