As spooky and flu season collide, there’s only one place to go: Beelitz-Heilstätten. The former tuberculosis sanatorium is one of the area’s best-known urban ruins and an ideal place to admire the autumn foliage through the crumbling walls.
The collection of buildings can be found about an hour outside of Berlin and has lived many lives: it was once a treatment centre, a military hospital, an illegal rave site and finally a film set (The Pianist, Operation Valkyrie). Today, the ruins serves as a museum with a treetop walk, making it the perfect destination on an autumnal day out
The origins of Beelitz Heilstätten are in the name. From 1902 into the 1930s, it functioned as a healing place for Berliners with tuberculosis, which was spreading rapidly in the cramped quarters of the working class and at one point accounted for one in every three deaths.
Despite the grim statistics and the murky misery the term ‘sanatorium’ implies, the patients’ stay seemed more like a spa getaway than anything else. Separated by gender, they followed a holistic treatment plan that included saltwater steam inhalation, cold-water walking (or “kneipen”), and silent afternoons of rest in the beautiful landscaped gardens.
Although functioned intermittently as a military hospital during World War I, after the end of World War II it officially became a Soviet military hospital and remained that way until 1995, when it fell into disuse. The evidence of the lawless intervening years is present in the carved-in graffiti that cover the walls, including a collection of I-was-here signatures from Russian visitors post-military service.
Since 2015, the space has been developed into what it is today: part treetop walk and part museum, a tangle of forest and brick in the Beelitz countryside.
The best way to see the sanatorium is from above. The treetop path is 700 metres long, and takes you quite literally through the trees, with nice panoramic vistas of the Chirurgie (“surgery”) building and a look at the rooftop jungle of the Alpenhaus, where the overgrowth of greenery has created a natural shield from bad weather in the remains of the building below.
Legend says he would tuck himself in the crawl spaces behind the walls, crying out in a child’s voice for his mother.
If the weather is nice, stop for a rest on the enormous hammock-like net that stretches high above the forest floor (where many previous visitors have seen items slip from their pockets while lounging).
When exploring the ruins on ground level, it’s worth booking a guided tour in one of the spaces. The surgery building is the most famous, but the Alpenhaus, which housed women only, is the most beautiful: tall windows and floating curtains, staircases to nowhere (the closed-off upper floors, that is) and a huge, derelict dining room set with a faux feast.
Throughout all the buildings, keep an eye out for the original Villeroy & Boch tiles from 1902 (still in excellent condition) and the positioning of the rooms: the buildings were designed so that the patients would always face south for maximum sunlight, while storage and washrooms were placed in the gloomy north.
And what of the sanatorium’s ghostly reputation? “We don’t say this is a haunted place or a lost place, but a safe place,” says Jürgen Weyrich, a member of the press team. Indeed, if one was to be haunted here, it would have to be a soft haunting: less ghouls and demons, more gauzy white curtains drifting in the breeze and echoes of footsteps in cavernous empty rooms.
Perhaps the spirits of the place are not the patients themselves, but the staff, still inviting the natural world and the sunshine into the people who wander the wards.
There is one particular spectre that fright fans still come looking for. The “Schleicher von Beelitz” is said to have roamed these halls in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, masquerading as a ghost to deter meddling kids from vandalism and general bad behaviour.
Legend says he would tuck himself in the crawl spaces behind the walls, crying out in a child’s voice for his mother, or hide in camouflage, leaping out at unsuspecting groups while wielding an axe. Real or not, it’s never a bad idea to watch your back on your way out the door.
At a glance
Getting there
- Train: Take the RE7 towards Dessau Hbf, alighting at Beelitz-Heilstätten. From there, it’s a 10-minute walk north along Straße nach Fichtenwalde to the entrance. With good connections, you can get there in under an hour
- Car: Follow the A115 southwest of the city, switching to the A10 and exiting at Beelitz-Heilstätten, a journey of around 45 minutes.
Hours
- In October, the museum is open daily, from 10am to 6pm. Hours vary depending on the month, so check the website via baumundzeit.de if you plan to visit later in the year.
Pricing
- Tickets are €17 for adults, €15 for reduced (students, pensioners, Azubi-card holders, people with disabilities), €12 for children ages 7-17, and free for children 6 and under. The regular, public guided tours are €10-15 per person.
- For full ticket options, including reduced prices for evening tickets, families and large groups, see website.
