Beelitz-Heilstätten, Former tuberculosis sanatorium in Beelitz, Germany
Beelitz-Heilstätten is a former sanatorium in Beelitz, Germany, consisting of several dozen brick buildings with tall windows and curved balconies. The complex lies scattered through a pine forest and includes pavilions, operating theaters and long connecting corridors between individual houses.
The sanatorium was built from 1898 for the treatment of tuberculosis patients from Berlin and treated wounded soldiers during the First World War. After the Second World War, Soviet forces used the complex as a military hospital until it closed in the nineteen nineties.
The name comes from the original healing institutions that supported recovery through rest and forest air. Visitors today can walk through abandoned corridors and former patient rooms, while parts of the site serve as a backdrop for photography and artistic projects.
The complex lies about one hour southwest of Berlin and is accessible by regional train. Guided tours allow access to selected areas, while the treetop walkway can be visited without a guide.
An elevated wooden bridge called Baum und Zeit runs above the abandoned roofs and offers a view from above of the decaying architecture. The structure extends for several hundred meters and passes through the treetops of the surrounding forest.
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