ABANDONED BERLIN

If you think the street art of Melbourne is impressive, you’ve seen nothing until you’ve been to Berlin. Abandoned buildings, apartment blocks, theme parks, swimming enters and train stations have been transformed into unofficial art galleries by graffiti/street artists, and are filled with colourful murals and installation pieces on every inch of every wall (and ceilings too!). Each building has a different level of difficulty to enter, some as simple as stepping over a fallen fence, whilst others are patrolled by 24/7 guards with dogs.

During our visit to the city, I knew I wanted to explore at least one of these famed abandoned places. I’ve always been a little bit of an abandoned explorer junkie, especially when I was younger and lived in Adelaide. I would often spend my weekends breaking into (usually just hoping a fence or two) abandoned apartments/hospitals/buildings to take pictures with friends, but none of these explorations could even compare to the incredible places on offer in Berlin!

I started by researching my choices. I wanted something easy to enter, that had no risk of getting in trouble with police (I didn’t think it would be wise to get arrested in a country where I don’t speak the language…), so that means it couldn’t have guards on duty. Somewhere not too far from the city, that was more interesting than an average apartment block, wasn’t too risky for getting mugged and had been recommended by others on forums/websites as that is usually the best advice.

I stumbled upon this fantastic website that goes into detail on how to enter each place, where they are located, the level of risk, if guards are on duty and has a section for comments by others. If you’re thinking of doing some exploring, definitely check out the Abandoned Berlin website!

After an hour or so of looking around, we settled on Blub Abanoned Swimming Centre. It ticked all the boxes and as an added bonus an abandoned swimming centre was completely different to anything I’d ever had the chance to see in Australia.

We entered with our hearts in our throats. It was so simple getting in, there was barely a fence to step over. It was windy and starting to rain, the noises of the wind rattling the roof wasn’t settling my nerves. We’d read that Berliner’s love to spend their spare time exploring these places and that we’d most likely encounter some young people painting, drinking or just hanging out. I was just hoping they would be the friendly kind, and not the mugging kind. And sure enough when we rounded a corner and I saw two teenage girls sitting on top of the tower chatting together my nerves melted instantly and I was breathless looking at the incredibly sight before me.

After having a look around the grounds, we entered the interior through a broken window to escape the rain. From the outside I couldn’t comprehend the sheer size of the building. Another group of young people were hanging out with their dogs, and to our right a group of boys were starting on some new murals. The vibe was peaceful and we spent the next hour looking in the empty pools and admiring the wall pieces.

Abandoned exploration number two! On recommendation from our friend Jolyon, one sunny afternoon we caught a train to Pankow to have a look inside the Abandoned Railroad yard (also listed on Abandoned Berlin too!). It was super easy to get in, at first we thought we needed to jump the fence, but on closer inspection we realised it was just a gate sitting there without a fence at all, so we only had to walk around it and we were in!

There were no nerves during this exploration as we were feeling like locals by now. There were lots of people inside the rail yard looking around, a family with two kids, a few photographers photographing some questionably dressed models, amateur photographers out for a Sunday walk, some young teens looking for mischief. It was almost difficult not to get them in my pictures! So if you’re a beginner looking for somewhere safe to explore, the Pankow Abandoned Railroad yard is a good start.

I’m really glad we had the courage to see these places, and I’m also glad we chose places that are relatively safe but still interesting! I know a lot of people want to explore Berlin’s most famous Spreepark Berlin, the abandoned theme park, but after researching that they have 24/7 guards, the penalties are high and it’s very hard to enter, it just wasn’t worth the risk.

My tips for abandoned exploring in Berlin:

Don’t go alone, always go with a friend/s.

Leave your important things at home (passport, cash, maybe don’t take all your cameras), you can never be too safe.

Don’t go at night, and if you want to avoid crowds, don’t go on weekends.

Thoroughly research on Abandoned Berlin website, read the comments!

But even with all this advice, abandoned exploring needs to be done at your own risk. Understand the consequences and have your wits about you! But it can be lots of fun and rewarding! Oh and so many great photo opportunities.

❤