The Beelitz-Sanatoriums were built in three phases between 1898 and 1930 in Potsdam, nearby Berlin. They consist of more than 60 building complexes that served as hospitals for patients with tuberculosis and as psychiatric wards. During WWI and WWII, the buildings were mainly used as sickbays for casualties. In 1916, one of the wounded soldiers staying as an in-patient for two months was Adolf Hitler. After WWII, like most parts of eastern Germany, Potsdam was occupied by the Red Army. Up until 1994 the Soviets utilized the buildings as the biggest military hospital outside of the UDSSR.
The edifices might have been abandoned by the end of the cold war, but they still radiate vividly and invite the viewer for a time travel beyond compare. The picturesque scenery has not only captivated many photographers, but it has also inspired directors like Wolfgang Becker or Roman Polanski, who filmed The Piano at this very spot.
I sneaked through one of the fences in order to capture some of the spectacular atmosphere. The focus lies in the contrapositions of light and darkness, the inside and the outside, as well as on the natural vs. the cultivated; Broken windows that let in the diffused light, layers of paint crumbling down and cracking up an undeniable past, and nature reclaiming back what has once been its own realm creates a unique ambience in which one can almost touch the time pass by.
I sneaked through one of the fences in order to capture some of the spectacular atmosphere. The focus lies in the contrapositions of light and darkness, the inside and the outside, as well as on the natural vs. the cultivated; Broken windows that let in the diffused light, layers of paint crumbling down and cracking up an undeniable past, and nature reclaiming back what has once been its own realm creates a unique ambience in which one can almost touch the time pass by.
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