Find me here:
  The Paranormal Guide
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Atlas
  • Glossary

Beelitz Heilstätten

2/7/2013

Comments

 
Picture
Originally designed as a sanatorium to accommodate the escalating numbers of tuberculosis patients, Beelitz-Heilstätten was then used as a military hospital for the Imperial German Army, and then the Soviet Army.

Later, a hunting ground for at least two killers, the abandoned structures slowly falling into ruin, are now said to be haunted.

A Sanatorium

PictureSome of the earliest patients.
The historic town of Beelitz is located just south of Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany. A small town of some 11,000 people that has seen some interesting goings on in its time such as a bleeding host miracle in the Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas Parish Church way back in 1247.

This miracle saw the then very small community become a site of pilgrimage and Beelitz began to grow.

Come the late 1800's and with the population size rapidly increasing in the area, especially in Berlin the incidences of disease also grew. Cases of tuberculosis sky-rocketed and in 1898 architect Heino Schmieden drew up plans for a sanatorium in which to quarantine and treat the sick. Beelitz-Heilstätten is both the name of the sanatorium/hospital complex and the district of the town it is located in.

The original building phase of the sanatorium established a then state of the art facility that included room for 600 beds all with access to open air balconies so patients could take advantage of the 'air baths' which formed the core of the treatment of tuberculosis. Within a few years more buildings were constructed which effectively doubled the treatment capacity and added infrastructure that turned the sanatorium/hospital into a self contained town – restaurant, post office, nursery, stables, kitchens, laundries, bakery, butchers, greenhouses and even a power generator.

PictureStaff during World War 1.
At the beginning of World War 1 the sanatorium was used as a military hospital for the Imperial German Army. The hospital saw many people that had been injured in battle including a 27 year old Adolf Hitler who had been wounded in the Battle of the Somme by a exploding shell, shrapnel embedding in his groin/thigh.

Towards the end of World War Two the Red Army occupied the hospital where it remained in Soviet hands until 1995. After this time several of the complexes buildings were used as a centre for the research and care of victims of Parkinsons Disease and a few of the other buildings privately owned and renovated. The rest lay abandoned and are slowly falling apart.

A Killers Play Ground

PictureThe Kitchen.
Today the empty buildings are hotspots for urban explorers, ghost hunters and pretty much anyone with an interest in abandoned history.

Many of the hospitals fixtures still lay inside the buildings, slowly rusting – examination chairs, surgery lights, beds and other furnishings constantly remind those who visit just what sorts of activities took place in the many rooms.

At the time of writing I could not find an exact number of deaths that took place within Beelitz but some sites state that surviving more than five years within the sanatorium had only a 50% chance. Thousands of people will have drawn their last breaths within the walls and then there are stories of murder (there was a serial killer operating in the area killing some of his victims in the woods near the hospital) and accidents adding to the large numbers of lives ended.

PictureThe surgery.
Another murder took place on the site in 2008 when a photographer lured a model out to the old hospital and then beat her to death in the hospitals former gatehouse. Both of these murderers also engaged in necrophilia with their victims.

What is probably the most strange aspect of Beelitz is the lack of reported encounters with ghosts. Generally when looking into a story about an old, abandoned sanatorium its usually easier to find out about the ghosts than it is to find information about the history – Beelitz is the complete opposite.

That is not to say the ghosts stories are not there its just they are more of a footnote added at the end of an article. However security guards do tell of strange sounds heard throughout the old buildings when they make their infrequent checks. Doors that they shut are very soon back open, even handles have been witnessed to be turned by unseen hands followed by the door slowly opening to reveal no-one on the other side.

A Ghost Story

PictureThis place has many empty halls.
One interesting story I do have came straight to my inbox which is why I began to look into this location in the first place. A German woman who wants to be referred to as 'Anne' had visited the location several years ago in her late teens. She went out there with four of her friends as they had heard of the old hospital buildings and wanted to check them out for themselves.

Many of the structures are easy to access but some were a little harder (they were trespassing) but access them they did. While they were in one of the old surgeries she heard someone asking her for a scalpel. This was asked in German. She turned to her friends to ask what they needed a scalpel for but no-one was there – her friends were gone.

The next moment she heard them yelling out her name and when she found them they too had a curious story to tell. They had all gone into the surgery and after a few minutes of looking around they had all left. Together they visited a few more rooms until about half an hour later they noticed Anne was no longer with them.

PictureSurgery about to start...
The curious thing is her friends swore she had been with them right up to the moment they started to call her name when they noticed she was gone – she was there one minute and gone the next.

Anne knows she did not leave that surgery and did not venture into the other rooms, she had been alone in that surgery for at least half an hour but for her it only felt like a few minutes at most. It was not until she was asked for a scalpel by an unseen person followed by her name being called that she realised she was alone.

Who asked for the scalpel?
Who had tagged along with her friends for the duration Anne was left alone?

Ashley Hall 2013
(more fantastic pictures can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/breakdennis/sets/72157604830680529/)

Please post your comments below!

Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    The Paranormal Guide Articles

    Here you will find all of the articles written for The Paranormal Guide on all things paranormal, strange, dark, macabre, weird, strange and bizarre!

    All photos with the blog posts remain the property of their respectful owners. If one of your photos is featured here without attribution please leave a comment on the blog and full credit will be given.

    Categories

    All
    Bizarre Experiments
    Conspiracy
    Cryptozoology
    Cursed And Haunted Objects
    Curses Demons And Exorcisms
    Earth Mysteries
    Fakes Frauds And Hoaxes
    Ghosts And Hauntings
    Ghosts Ghouls And Demons
    Interesting And Inspiring People
    Investigations
    Miracles
    My Paranormal
    Paranormal Photos
    Paranormal Vocabulary
    Phobias And Philias
    Post Mortem Practices
    Psychics Predictions And Seers
    Questions And Discussions
    Reviews
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Strange And Macabre Places
    Strange And Tragic Deaths
    This Week In Dark History
    Tragedy
    True Crime And Punishment
    Ufos And Aliens
    Unsolved Mysteries
    Urban Legend Superstition And Folklore
    Weird Odd And Bizarre


    Ashley Hall -
    The Paranormal Guide

    Ashley Hall explores The Paranormal, True Crime, Strange Deaths, Dark History, The Weird, The Strange and The Bizarre! Fact or Fiction? You decide!

    Picture

    Contributors

    Picture
    Matty Sweeney
    Picture
    Peet Banks
    Picture
    Nic Hume

    Picture
    Check out The Paranormal Guide Podcast and join three paranormal investigators and researchers for honest and raw discussions on all things paranormal, strange, dark and macabre HERE!

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Please note that dates are from when the article was originally made.
    The Paranormal Guide does have posts all the way up to the current date.


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.