Register
Events
Popular
More
Post #1
This is pretty much my first Urbex with a camera. I've always been in old buildings with a friend when I was a kid of like 10 or 12 but that was more for the thrill of meeting a hobo or falling into a hole.
Only when I grew older and viewing theads here t Facepunch I developed a sense for the ....morbid beauty of old places.
As my hometown Halle, was a big centre of the Soviet chemical industry in the GDR, naturally it is predestined to be full of old industry-ruins. So if you want to know why I did my first Urbex here is a little
Unspectacular Introductional Story:
I met a dude at an open air party(called Fete de la musique) that was happening directly opposite of the building you are seeing in the first picture. We were wondering what it was as we've always been seeing it sitting there in the middle of my hometown, idling and getting more wet, rotten and vandalized.
He mentioned that he and 2 other dudes would explore it 2 days from then and I was quick to join them.
We met them at a bridge close to our goal and 2 of my friends joined too.
But since city folks are a spoiled bunch, the 3 of them went grabbing some food and drinks for later in a closeby grocery store while I was left with two guys I didn't even know the damn name of.
Eager to get into the building, we asked some young skaters who were living around there of how to get in there the best, naturally, it would be locked, right? RIGHT? They told us about a wall that was climbable to the north of it.
However, getting there involved ludicrous amounts of trash being thrown to the outside wall of the complex and bushes, dogshit and old diapers to be waitning for our feet.
Long story short: I climbed it and they would follow, those bastards.
"I have an appointment in an hour, sorry I never thought it would be this complicated..."
Go fuck yourself. They studied medicine by the way.
Anyway I was in and here is the complex in all of its bird-perspecive beauty:
map von Terranigmus auf Flickr
You might want to see the location on GOOGLE
*BrrrBrrr* - Mobile:
-Where are you?
-I'm inside, looking at a building from the middle of the yard, looking at a building
'This one:'
1 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
-Ok wait for us we'll be there in seconds
-Will you make the wall?
-What wall, the front door is only secured by a long chain, a motorcycle could fit through the gap
-fuck
All right so what you guys are seeing is One of the main buildings, on the map it is the most southern-eastern one. You can easily spot that awesome tower of it.
That fucker was built in 1934, easily confirmable:
58 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Yes. It's a Nazi-Building.
So we got in there and what we found is this:
12 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
The tops of these seem to be welded off by metal-thieves or by the people who closed it down in 87, who knows? I don't.
13 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
14 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Apparently this is an old machine that used to lift or pump something, I can't really make it out anymore.
15 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
I particulary like the sparying to the right in this one.
The first room we entered was already fucking awesome so we made our way to the west through the buildings and came into a huge hall that looked like it used to be an old cleaning room or something, it was covered in tiling
16 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
You can see Christoph, they guy we met here.
Anyway, further through the building the circumstances got worse. A big fire destroyed a lot of the southern part. From what I could gather from the internet it used to be the building were they made ice.
Anyway, further through the southern part:
17 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
This is the point were the STALKER feeling hit me. I wonder why.
Something cool: we found an old cap of one of the barrels:
18 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
At some point the route ended and we stood next to the pretty much only staircase in the whole complexe not obstructed by piles of junk.
Being the idiots we are we brought no flashlights and got into the cellar using the preflashlights of our cameras to navigate. The results are here:
19 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
21 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
This was the point where we couldn't get any further since the river (called Saale) that was flowing next to the complex got into the rooms and flooded the lowest ones, being at around 10 cm in the ones we could access:
22 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
The red stuff you see is probably rust and algae, the water itself was pretty clear.
Next goal: That tower.
On our way back found this littele thing we didn't notice when we first passed:
23 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
I don't know what it was for but it looks old and somehow pretty.
On our way up we noticed something not so pretty:
24 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Up to the tower:
26 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Me too!
Hey, what is that?
Oh you rascalls, an old(but not SO old) GDR flag:
27 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Let's take a look around:
28 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
29 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
They used to build pretty things back then:
30 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Closeup:
31 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
It was more stormy than it looks:
32 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
And yes, that's a VW sign in the background, a car dealer restaurated an old factory and used the chimney wisely.
You are looking to the east here.
Our next goal was the opposite building located in the middle of the northern part:
From the outside:
3 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
From the inside:
33 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Gotta love the artists:
34 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Going further we discovered this:
35 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
The catch: I showed this pic to the friend of my mother and he told me that he used to work there when he was 9. That is 35 years ago.
And they used those to brew the beer. Like this.
No cover. No lid. No cap. Just brewing and boiling.
He told me that at one point he stopped counting the rats that fell into the beer.
Quality soviet workmanship for you here.
Anyway, off to the most eastern part, the building next to the river you are seeing in the very first picture:
36 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Time to eat:
37 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
And enjoy the music:
43 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Wait, what is that:
38 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
An elevator?
39 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
A goddamn barrel elevator:
41 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
The last goddamn barrel in the whole brewery. Not destroyed because it is locked inbetween the floors for as long as the building stands.
My hero.
Awesome.
There was some nice sprayings too:
42 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
49 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Artistic tribute:
45 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Artistic greeting:
47 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Artistic greetings location:
48 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Stomachs filled, further up the
4 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Above the barrel-elevator:
51 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
AWWW YEA.
52 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
6 and 10 Amps. That's deadly.
50 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
I guess the looters didn't get THIS one.
Le roof is documented:
53 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
And the stairs were decorated for us too:
56 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
57 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Guess why we didn't want to climb that roof AT ALL.
Last building is the one in the northwest street-side corner. We quickly went up there through some stairs and voila:
59 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
The internet told me that this used to be the recreational area for the workers.
We felt recreated.
60 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
But not as recreated as this tree. he grew THROUGH the plates and I was just astonished by the power of that little guy, growing on a roof of a building probably full of asbestos.
Below that, we found an empty, dark "ballroom" like room:
61 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
In colour:
62 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
63 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
This flyer and the copious amounts of wine bottles showed us that this used to be some kind of youth-underground club in 1995. They had a kitchen,
64 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
toilets, a stage and nice paintings.
65 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
And that concludes our little tour.
Did I forget something?
OH YEA! THE DOCUMENTS!
66 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
An old newspaper.
11 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
An old old newspaper too.
ANd now it gets interesting, Protocols:
67 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Apparently this used to be an old protocol of a voting session they had.
It cointains names and copies of everything everyone said during that sitting as well as comments on if the "Commrades spirit fits the thoughts, goals and ,ethods of the socialistic working-apperatus".
68 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
69 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Closeups.
71 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Apparently this was an appeal from a restaurant that complains about a barrel not cleaned propperly.
Soviet worksmanship for you here.
All right that's it. Uppon reviewing the pics, I forgot two things:
A ceiling above us:
7 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
Aaaaannnnd.....
8 von Terranigmus auf Flickr
And old safe.
Yea. Closed, unopened and well... safe.
We found 3 different ones in 3 different floors and they were all closed and locked. We will never know what used to be inside. Sadly.
Resume:
Well it was quite fun and an awesome experience. We are already planing the next trips and the options are:
-An old steel plant on the outer rims of our town.
-An old Sauna in the middle of our town
-An old butcher shop just ouside the town, completely with hooks and everything.
Depending on your guys interest in this I'll make a thread again, it's quite a bit of work as you can imagine. I hope Facepunch is worth it.
Next time we'll have a tripod, flashlights and breathing masks. I'm sure I swallowed my fair share of dust, dried up shit-dust and asbestos in there but it payed off. I think.
Also I am sorry for the horrible quality of some of the pictures, they were all shot in RAW but with VERY high ISO since all of this was happening from 18.00 to 21.00. Lightroom did its best but I don't know what flickr does to the pics once you've uploaded them. Highres (12 MPix) versions of any pic is also available, just shoot a quick PM.
Comments are VERY appreciated and please find the typos and tell me.
-
-
I don't think I could have enough self control to not try to open some of the safes. Out of curiosity if nothing else.
-
Just awe-inspiring. Nice job, bros!
Except for one:
Thought this was a god damn huge spider at first. Scared the everloving shit out of me.
-
I think it's a root but don't pin me to that. We couldn't get any closer since it was the 3rd floor and the flooring was old rusty metal plates with holes in them.
-
Kinda reminds me of the enigma of amigara faultJust awe-inspiring. Nice job, bros!
Except for one:
Thought this was a god damn huge spider at first. Scared the everloving shit out of me.
-
Maybe it's just the effect of having played STALKER, but I really enjoy looking at pictures like these.
-
Nice pictures.
That place looks awesome.
Just one tip for you, don't go on urbex with shorts. You can easily get cut on broken glass and rusty metal, especially if you are going through some tight places, or even sitting somewhere. And if the place is really dirty your cuts can get infected.
Oh, and don't forget the mask, there can be dangerous particles in the dust and air.
-
Awesome! I can only think of one building that you could explore in my city, and it's in the middle of being torn down.
-
Pilsner-Urquell?!
They made that beer there?
-
Holy shit what I'd do to visit there! But knowing myself I am also shitscared of those places...
-
That's some pretty awesome scenery.
-
Get the safe open somehow, God knows what could be in there.
-
I love threads like this.
-
Urbex seems like so much fun, I'm planning on getting into it with some buddies of mine.
What are some necessities when going on excursions like this?
-
In GDR it was Freyberger. I don't know what was produced after 1990.
Edited:
Sounds cheap but just do it.
Bring a flashlight and a mobile since the danger of crashing through the floor is pretty high sometimes.
Other than that: Be careful and concentrated, watch your step and take your time.
And never go alone.
-
We don't have any awesome abandoned places in my town, but I'm going to Melbourne later this year for a few days. I'd love to hit up some great places like this there.
-
I'm waiting for B-Hazard to show up and start shouting loudly about asbestos
Bless his soul.
Edited:
I'm a Melbournite and there aren't too many cool old buildings
-
I gotta Urbex in my country. Looks fun!
-
here in new england we just live in them
-
Every time I see one of these urbex threads, I wish I lived near such place.
-
When I saw that last barrel I thought that OP deserved a hundred Winners.
-
Walls black like black waters, when they are heavy and seem to belong to other seas
January 2011
5,160 PostsAmazing spot, I am very much jealous
Go easy on the captions for every picture though, god
-
I know where I'm visiting on my trip to Germany.
Nice read OP!
-
You're in Halle?
I stayed in Germany for a month back in february in Schkeuditz :buddy:
I rode on the Leipzig-Halle train line almost every day
-
I'm gonna explore an old abandoned farm (and other near-by buildings) in my area. Wish me luck!
-
Urban Exploration is always fun. I want to go to an old steel factory from the 40 that's right around the corner
-
That's cool. I wish I could explore places like this.
-
Wow, that's amazing.
Honestly, I always wish there were more pre-1950 building around here, but they're all historic monuments at this point. I always think about what places will be like twenty or thirty years from now will look like. I feel like our modern architecture will look so archaic and strangely beautiful years from now. I bet they didn't think these buildings were spectacularly beautiful back then, so it's always interesting to put things into perspective.
Also, on the flip side of UrbanEx, do people hold any interest for "ForestEx"? There's plenty of dense forests around here, but I never know if I should try exploring them for the internet's pleasure.
But really, this is awesome!
-
I always go alone, because I don't really have any friends who are interested. :saddowns:
I've been planning on doing some exploring this summer. Massachusetts is filled with weird, abandoned places.
-
Drop the safe off the roof and onto some concrete, that ought to crack it open.
-
Nazi-era beer. Cool.
Marvelous job on exploring.
-
"people give DBS shit all the time but he's really a good guy and i'm glad he's my friend" -no one
March 2009
17,013 Posts
Anyone want to translate those documents and newpapers? I can only understand a bit of them.
Also near where I live there's a steel plant that recently got mothballed, I was planning to do my first Urbex there once it shut down completely, but then it got bought last-minute by a Thai company :saddowns:
Oh well, can't argue with saving 1,000 jobs.
-
You'll run into problems sometime.I always go alone, because I don't really have any friends who are interested. :saddowns:
I've been planning on doing some exploring this summer. Massachusetts is filled with weird, abandoned places.
This time we stirred up a dog that was sleeping in the cellar there. The place was drenched in the smell of animals, musk till you couldn't breath anymore.
When I was younger, hobos uses to chase us out of the buildings and I don't know about your area but people around here aren't too fond of "punks " setring the place on fire so they do their best to chase you off.
-
Thanks man, I've got all those things so I'm pretty much set :buddy:
-
ForeSex
-
Fucking assholes, I hate people who spray up/put graffiti on old buildings.
-
I'm envious, I live in a relatively new town where UrbEx isn't really a suitable activity. Respect for not taking that GDR flag!
-
I thought she was wearing a skirt for a minute. No but really though, I highly recommend wearing pants. God forbid you cut yourself on something moving around a cluttered room.
Great thread OP, I love this kind of stuff.
-
Darn, I wish I had this kind of place nearby :saddowns:
-
Only thing around here is the TXU building
Artistic x 75
Winner x 48
Funny x 1
Agree x 63
Friendly x 2
Disagree x 9
Dumb x 3
Useful x 1
Informative x 1
