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Beelitz, echoes of Moria

Lecture

Beelitz, one of the most visited and photographed locations - just Google.
A former lung hospital which treated once a well know German Dictator after World War 1.
This view from the back appealed to me. I went back recently as I heard that all the seats had been ripped out,
but the place is boarded up - not much left here to photograph.

Beer Barrels

Copper & Rust

A former distillery.

Going Up

Scream Without Echo (Translation from the German Schrei ohne Echo).

Kraftwerk #3

A favourite location, this was once Germany's largest powerstation. Established in 1937 and closed 1991.
This 90° panorama with the Nikon 14-24mm was the only way I felt I could convey the huge scale.

Chapel Burning Down

These burnt roof beams with nails provide great foreground interest.
Careful framing shows trees where there was once a roof.

Teufelsberg Night

A return visit at nightfall. This time close up with tilt and shift.
The walls of the middle tower are almost gone.
There's a guy with a tripod upper level, centre.
Wonder if he got me?

Kraftwerk #2

Oh what fun…..again, started life as a panorama with 24mm tilt & shift lens, but this is just the middle section.
Processed as black and white, but then, those rusted metal textures…
And the alien light through the rear wall?
No idea.

Headless or Pig's Nose

Someone made the effort to climb up and cut off two heads.

Lobby

The Lobby leads to the Theatre.

New Coat Of Paint

Or Birds #2

Birds

Entrance to the Lobby.

Laboratory #1

The Brewery - Bärenquell

Barrels #2

Barrels #1

From the ruins of the Bärenquelle brewery, this scene - with a little artistic arrangement - remains unscathed.
Beer barrels; tops, bottoms, staves and an early morning light through a window.
Berlin.

Laboratory #2

A derelict brewery in Berlin. Not much left to see here due to time and vandalism. It is a locked premises but there's a way in.
This image shows a lab which was used for beer sample testing. There are hydrometers, test tubes, books and even some full beer bottles. People also come here to destroy...

Last Orders

Couldn't resist the title for this image also from the Brewery. This an order book, one of many lying on the damp floor. The rest are full, so this may have been one of the last in use. Local Berliner friends recognise the abbreviations used for delivery destinations; KW is Königs Wusterhausen. The telephone is old East German style, the centre of the dial reads 'Volkspolizei' - The People's Police. Of the places I have photgraphed I find this the most poignant; the people who worked here didn't just pack up and leave - they just left….
Arrangement expertly assisted by Mr.Tree

Explosion #2

Wünsdorf

Radomes

Teufelsberg, where the West listened in……."Happy Xmas - we know what you're up to".

Mirror, Mirror

The water was cold. It's possible to get into the uppermost dome of the middle tower. The echo of a breath is amazing.
Today the material of the tower walls is mostly gone and only a skeleton frame remains. Somebody should make a nightclub here.

Kitchen

Beelitz again, these are the remaining extraction hoods in the kitchen.

Tunnel Doors

Beelitz a hallway of doors.

Sundial

The early morning sun creates a sundial shadow. Last time I looked the hands have been 'removed'…..

Red House

Dreilinden is located just outside Berlin and is also named Checkpoint Bravo.

9:36

The beginning of my fascination with photographic opportunities in and around Berlin.
This clock at Dreilinden compliments the other vandalised version in this collection.
Notice how the clock face has been changed at some time - if 3 were 9.

Kraftwerk #4

The result of a long chilly winter afternoon alone with a howling wind which was disturbing a few ghosts.
These are cast iron valves which regulated cooling water from the River Elbe.

Kraftwerk #1

A favourite; a rented 24mm T&S lens, hours of delicate painting resulted in this image being printed at 100 x 100cm and bonded to aluminium. Also the main image in my exhibition in Berlin.

Stage Left

A favourite image. Similar to Beelitz, occupied by the Soviets but less well known. Lots of detail here like the loudspeaker holes left and right of the stage and the curtain rings above.
The text above the stage reads:
'Beneath the flag of Leninism, under the Rulership of the Communist Party - Forward to the Total Victory of Communism'.
This image started life as a panorama using a 24mm tilt & shift, but I selected only the middle part for this image.
Printed on fine art paper and bonded to aluminium.

Explosion #1

Wunsdorf. The explosive after effect of the Russian pact to destroy the buildings.
The reinforced walls are up to a metre thick.

Panzer Wheel

A strategically placed Panzer wheel, presumably for the tourists and would be photographers....ahem.

Roof

Wunsdorf; World War 2 was extensively directed from here.
Twelve large 'houses' formed a circle above ground to disguise the bunker complex below.
A British Air Force bombing raid did not hit their targets. The Russians completed the task after the War and the Potsdam Conference.

Furnace

These are the furnaces that powered and heated a former army barracks. This site is patrolled by security who did their rounds whilst we were inside…..tyre marks in the snow!
A scene from Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds' was filmed in an adjacent building.