TeeJF
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This is the last report from our October trip to Beelitz-Heilstätten near Berlin and it covers ONLY the south eastern sector male pavilion. I hope you agree that we've saved the best until last 
We go back to Beelitz for seconds in less than a week so if you've enjoyed these reports we will post some more buildings after we get back home.
On the first day of our visit we had managed to get into the cellars of the Male Pavilion. We had found our way in very easily through a cellar window in the west wing which had had it's boarding ripped off. We wandered around in the gloom, tip toeing lest we kick up the asbestos dust that was blanketing the floor everywhere. Immediately beyond our entry point we went left and down a long corridor towards a faint light which we could just about make out in the distance, hoping that it would be a staircase up to the ground floor of the pavilion proper. As the light got brighter we suddenly thought we could hear voices so we immediately froze. Sure enough it was two males talking in German, presumably the same ones we had almost bumped into not half an hour earlier in the Badehaus complex. We were unsure as to exactly where they were but it sounded like they were already inside the cellars only a short distance ahead of us, so we did an abrupt about turn and 'ittied on back outside again the way we had come in...
Getting disturbed by persons unknown whilst trespassing inside a building in a foreign country who's laws you are not 100% sure of is perhaps not the best idea in the world, so we decided to go as far away as possible and try a different building in the hopes that these two rather persistent nuisances would not disturb us any further! We were not disappointed and spent the rest of day one enjoying two more buildings without any sign of anybody else - result! Day 2 saw us begin our explorations in the same quadrant which we had finished in the afternoon before up at the surgery block but we moved back down to the Male Pavilion once we had finished there. We completed another circuit of the exterior of the building, finding in the process a deep, tiled shaft with ladder rungs set into the wall heading down to the cellar floor level. Best of all there was a large opening in the wall leading into what we thought was probably a boiler room or the like. In view of the fact that we had not seen any immediately obvious route up to the ground floor the previous day we decided that this way in might be a better bet and soon we were at the bottom and entering the building for the second time.
It was about then that things went distinctly "Pieter Zunge" for the second time! It was indeed some sort of boiler room or the like - calorifiers I am reliably informed - and at the back there was a heavy duty staircase leading up and through a wall. We climbed it thinking that it would in all likelihood take us all the way to the ground floor but we ended up wandering around in the dark again for an absolute age with absolutely no luck. After doing a complete circuit of the area, and passing our entry point of the day before, TJ volunteered to crawl up a narrow, cramped tunnel to see what was at the end (she's good like that!) but all she found was a dead end with a grid barring access to the outside world. Completely stumped we walked another small area we had passed earlier and ended up back at our entry point of the day before once again. Worried by the amount of asbestos we were encountered and thoroughly demoralised, we were almost on the point of giving up when we spotted a narrow gap in the wall almost directly opposite where we were standing. It wasn't all that much more than a crack but with nothing to lose we decided to give it a go. Imagine our delight when we found ourselves in cellars proper rather than service tunnels, and when we spotted light in the distance again we knew we were in with a chance.
And we were not disappointed - we found a wooden staircase which was not attached to anything and looked as though it had just come from the builder's yard. But it went up through a rough hole cut in the brickwork ceiling over our heads. Very carefully lest we disturb it we climbed up and came out in a small room next to a short corridor. Imagine if you will exactly how we felt when we walked around the corner and came out into a vast exercise hall. Slowly our eyes adjusted to the gloom and then we saw the most amazing mural painted on the back wall!
But more of that in a moment when we come to the photographs!
This building was yet another of the many so called pavilions which housed the patients at Beelitz. By far the most important factor in the process of treating TB at that time involved copious amounts of fresh air and prolonged bed rest in peaceful surroundings, so beds had to be found in the pavilions for patients not requiring immediate surgery, and for those recovering from surgery. The scale of the epidemic was such that literally thousands of patients were at Beelitz at any one time, and as the treatment was anything but a quick cure unlucky sufferers might expect to stay at the hospital for many, many months before beating the disease. Consequently a lot of beds were required.
As already explained Beelitz is split into four quadrants: the north-eastern and south-eastern sectors were both exclusively for male patients, whilst female patients resided in the two western sectors on the opposite side of the north-south road which bisects the site. The building was in effect originally little more than a vast complex of wards with no operating theatres and no in house services - heating and electricity were generated a short distance away to the north in the now restored services building and then piped to all the buildings on the Beelitz site by underground tunnels, food was prepared and cooked in a separate complex and laundry was also done at an appreciable distance from all of the respective pavilions.
The sanatorium served the war effort between 1914 and 1918 as a military hospital, and this particular pavilion was the one where the young Bavarian infantry corporal, Adolph Hitler, recovered after he was shot in the leg on the Somme in 1916.
Beelitz was also used for the same purpose by the Soviet occupying forces when they took over the sanatorium after World War II as part of a vast military hospital, the biggest outside of Russia at that time. What is interesting is that part of this pavilion did not remain solely in military use, nor as a totally male only facility, during the Russian occupation. A wing was set aside for treating children, presumably those of the Russian military, and we found extensive painted murals on the corridor and ward walls in that area. Due to the fact that this building was not abandoned like some on the site, it has faired the attentions of the weather rather better than most, but it is still getting very water damaged now because maintenance of the roofs, and of the gutters and drains, has been almost completely neglected for the 17 plus years after the Soviet withdrawal from east Germany in 1994.
We go back to Beelitz for seconds in less than a week so if you've enjoyed these reports we will post some more buildings after we get back home.
REPORT 5 - The south eastern Male Pavilion...
On the first day of our visit we had managed to get into the cellars of the Male Pavilion. We had found our way in very easily through a cellar window in the west wing which had had it's boarding ripped off. We wandered around in the gloom, tip toeing lest we kick up the asbestos dust that was blanketing the floor everywhere. Immediately beyond our entry point we went left and down a long corridor towards a faint light which we could just about make out in the distance, hoping that it would be a staircase up to the ground floor of the pavilion proper. As the light got brighter we suddenly thought we could hear voices so we immediately froze. Sure enough it was two males talking in German, presumably the same ones we had almost bumped into not half an hour earlier in the Badehaus complex. We were unsure as to exactly where they were but it sounded like they were already inside the cellars only a short distance ahead of us, so we did an abrupt about turn and 'ittied on back outside again the way we had come in...
Getting disturbed by persons unknown whilst trespassing inside a building in a foreign country who's laws you are not 100% sure of is perhaps not the best idea in the world, so we decided to go as far away as possible and try a different building in the hopes that these two rather persistent nuisances would not disturb us any further! We were not disappointed and spent the rest of day one enjoying two more buildings without any sign of anybody else - result! Day 2 saw us begin our explorations in the same quadrant which we had finished in the afternoon before up at the surgery block but we moved back down to the Male Pavilion once we had finished there. We completed another circuit of the exterior of the building, finding in the process a deep, tiled shaft with ladder rungs set into the wall heading down to the cellar floor level. Best of all there was a large opening in the wall leading into what we thought was probably a boiler room or the like. In view of the fact that we had not seen any immediately obvious route up to the ground floor the previous day we decided that this way in might be a better bet and soon we were at the bottom and entering the building for the second time.
It was about then that things went distinctly "Pieter Zunge" for the second time! It was indeed some sort of boiler room or the like - calorifiers I am reliably informed - and at the back there was a heavy duty staircase leading up and through a wall. We climbed it thinking that it would in all likelihood take us all the way to the ground floor but we ended up wandering around in the dark again for an absolute age with absolutely no luck. After doing a complete circuit of the area, and passing our entry point of the day before, TJ volunteered to crawl up a narrow, cramped tunnel to see what was at the end (she's good like that!) but all she found was a dead end with a grid barring access to the outside world. Completely stumped we walked another small area we had passed earlier and ended up back at our entry point of the day before once again. Worried by the amount of asbestos we were encountered and thoroughly demoralised, we were almost on the point of giving up when we spotted a narrow gap in the wall almost directly opposite where we were standing. It wasn't all that much more than a crack but with nothing to lose we decided to give it a go. Imagine our delight when we found ourselves in cellars proper rather than service tunnels, and when we spotted light in the distance again we knew we were in with a chance.
And we were not disappointed - we found a wooden staircase which was not attached to anything and looked as though it had just come from the builder's yard. But it went up through a rough hole cut in the brickwork ceiling over our heads. Very carefully lest we disturb it we climbed up and came out in a small room next to a short corridor. Imagine if you will exactly how we felt when we walked around the corner and came out into a vast exercise hall. Slowly our eyes adjusted to the gloom and then we saw the most amazing mural painted on the back wall!
But more of that in a moment when we come to the photographs!
This building was yet another of the many so called pavilions which housed the patients at Beelitz. By far the most important factor in the process of treating TB at that time involved copious amounts of fresh air and prolonged bed rest in peaceful surroundings, so beds had to be found in the pavilions for patients not requiring immediate surgery, and for those recovering from surgery. The scale of the epidemic was such that literally thousands of patients were at Beelitz at any one time, and as the treatment was anything but a quick cure unlucky sufferers might expect to stay at the hospital for many, many months before beating the disease. Consequently a lot of beds were required.
As already explained Beelitz is split into four quadrants: the north-eastern and south-eastern sectors were both exclusively for male patients, whilst female patients resided in the two western sectors on the opposite side of the north-south road which bisects the site. The building was in effect originally little more than a vast complex of wards with no operating theatres and no in house services - heating and electricity were generated a short distance away to the north in the now restored services building and then piped to all the buildings on the Beelitz site by underground tunnels, food was prepared and cooked in a separate complex and laundry was also done at an appreciable distance from all of the respective pavilions.
The sanatorium served the war effort between 1914 and 1918 as a military hospital, and this particular pavilion was the one where the young Bavarian infantry corporal, Adolph Hitler, recovered after he was shot in the leg on the Somme in 1916.
Beelitz was also used for the same purpose by the Soviet occupying forces when they took over the sanatorium after World War II as part of a vast military hospital, the biggest outside of Russia at that time. What is interesting is that part of this pavilion did not remain solely in military use, nor as a totally male only facility, during the Russian occupation. A wing was set aside for treating children, presumably those of the Russian military, and we found extensive painted murals on the corridor and ward walls in that area. Due to the fact that this building was not abandoned like some on the site, it has faired the attentions of the weather rather better than most, but it is still getting very water damaged now because maintenance of the roofs, and of the gutters and drains, has been almost completely neglected for the 17 plus years after the Soviet withdrawal from east Germany in 1994.
The photos...
Here is a selection of the photos we took but there are also a couple of interactive panoramas amongst the normal shots.
If you click on the panos then you can pan and tilt the full pixcture in another window to your heart's content!
We have tried to set out the photos by area for this building commencing with the exterior
The front elevation of the Male Pavilion...
Underneath the porch at the main entrance of the building...
Most of the Beelitz buildings are shrouded by Virginia Creeper which looks lovely at this time of the year...
The purpose of this ornamental tower is to draw stale air out of the building.
But it also houses a pretty clock to combine function with form. ...
Who's that shifty looking character?
Attention to aesthetics...
More Virginia Creeper...
We found a hoard of these ornate wrought iron shutters stacked away in a room in one building!
Two highly ornate chimneys cap this part of the building.
It was only after looking at the pix that we realised we had not got in to this area...
The only way is down - down to the cellars and a big machinery room...
The cellars contain what looks at first glance to be a boiler room. But the "boilers" are probably
calorifiers which used centrally generated steam to warm the hot water for the building...
Another view of the "boiler room" as we named it...
These service tunnels go all the way around the perimeter of the buildings and they are heaving with asbestos!
Frustratingly the route into the cellars proper from the tunnels was never obvious, especially in this building!
We first walked into this hall through the door which you can see far left...
As our eyes grew accustomed to the gloom this is what we saw...
This mural just about sums up the surprises you find everywhere you look at Beelitz!
The gaps between the windows all have Russian propaganda paintings on them.
I suspect the theme will be something like "achievement through fitness"...
They were all variations upon a theme...
After leaving the hall we entered The Land of Crumbly...
This area is suffering from bad water ingress though much of the rest of the building is in a very good condition...
Looking out through one of those ornate wrought iron shutters ...
More of that B&Qski blue paint but the green wall opposite is not mouldy, it was really painted that colour!
Cellar acess! So how come we never found it on the way in???
Tonto on the way in to inspect a washroom...
The old "Jerry-built" (pardon the appalling pun there ) baths were made of brick, caulked with
waterproof render and then tiled. This would cost an absolute bomb to fill with hot water nowadays!
Showers built with glass bricks. I strongly suspect these were a Soviet era construction...
Fresh air was filtered and warmed before being piped to the wards. The amount of air coming in was controlled by these bigger damper vanes in the walls...
This is one of our personal favourite shots...
And this is the first of the obligatory stair porn piccies!
Heading back though better conditions to the main entrance hall ...
A broken Soviet radio ...
The magnificent entrance hall...
That famous staircase ...
More stair porn I hope you will forgive us but this area is just so photogenic!
It's that shade of blue again!
We must have been back over the top of The Land Of Crumbly here...
The first of the children's ward area murals...
The right hand rabbit must watch too much TV. Get it? Square eyes? No? Suit yourself...
hey Mr. Macfarlane, Tim just went on holiday!
Sadly this pretty garden scene is flaking off the walls...
Why are these rabbits rowing what looks like a barker's egg?
Does this remind you of Walt Disney's style?
We haven't used HDR here, the colours really are that intense!
The rain was lashing down outside...
The architectural embellishment which caps the entrance roof is getting a little sad now...
The ward verandas make such a pretty picture...
Especially with all that creeper...
We managed to get out onto one of the verandas...
Looking across at the east wing from where we had taken the earlier picture...
More delicately painted column capitals...
Most of the gutter down spouts are gone and have been replaced with lengths of land drain!
You guessed it! Stair porn on the way to the top floor!
Looking down from the top floor...
TJ taking M taking... what?
A chimney!
This floor was probably staff rooms and it follows the "under the eves" style of the other pavilion we had visited the day before ...
The east wing again...
A "Green Room" which we found under the eves...
We are back in the middle of the building at the top of the master staircase...
It's no wonder this staircase has been photographed so often is it!
Still on the top floor we are on the way back towards the west wing again now and our explore is almost done...
Time to go down to the cellars again...
But not before we chuck in one last dollop of stair porn!
Hope you liked the piccies! If you want to see some more then the full set is on our website, linked below.
Thanks for looking...
Here is a selection of the photos we took but there are also a couple of interactive panoramas amongst the normal shots.
If you click on the panos then you can pan and tilt the full pixcture in another window to your heart's content!
We have tried to set out the photos by area for this building commencing with the exterior
The front elevation of the Male Pavilion...
Underneath the porch at the main entrance of the building...
Most of the Beelitz buildings are shrouded by Virginia Creeper which looks lovely at this time of the year...
The purpose of this ornamental tower is to draw stale air out of the building.
But it also houses a pretty clock to combine function with form. ...
Who's that shifty looking character?
Attention to aesthetics...
More Virginia Creeper...
We found a hoard of these ornate wrought iron shutters stacked away in a room in one building!
Two highly ornate chimneys cap this part of the building.
It was only after looking at the pix that we realised we had not got in to this area...
The only way is down - down to the cellars and a big machinery room...
Here is the FIRST of the Male Pavilion panoramas.
Click on the image below to open an interactive photo in a seperate window which you can pan and tilt...
Click on the image below to open an interactive photo in a seperate window which you can pan and tilt...
The next few photos are of the cellars...
The cellars contain what looks at first glance to be a boiler room. But the "boilers" are probably
calorifiers which used centrally generated steam to warm the hot water for the building...
Another view of the "boiler room" as we named it...
These service tunnels go all the way around the perimeter of the buildings and they are heaving with asbestos!
Frustratingly the route into the cellars proper from the tunnels was never obvious, especially in this building!
The next few photos are of the exercise hall...
We first walked into this hall through the door which you can see far left...
As our eyes grew accustomed to the gloom this is what we saw...
This mural just about sums up the surprises you find everywhere you look at Beelitz!
The gaps between the windows all have Russian propaganda paintings on them.
I suspect the theme will be something like "achievement through fitness"...
They were all variations upon a theme...
The next few photos are of the ground floor of the pavilion...
After leaving the hall we entered The Land of Crumbly...
This area is suffering from bad water ingress though much of the rest of the building is in a very good condition...
Looking out through one of those ornate wrought iron shutters ...
More of that B&Qski blue paint but the green wall opposite is not mouldy, it was really painted that colour!
Cellar acess! So how come we never found it on the way in???
Tonto on the way in to inspect a washroom...
The old "Jerry-built" (pardon the appalling pun there
) baths were made of brick, caulked withwaterproof render and then tiled. This would cost an absolute bomb to fill with hot water nowadays!
Showers built with glass bricks. I strongly suspect these were a Soviet era construction...
Fresh air was filtered and warmed before being piped to the wards. The amount of air coming in was controlled by these bigger damper vanes in the walls...
This is one of our personal favourite shots...
And this is the first of the obligatory stair porn piccies!
Heading back though better conditions to the main entrance hall ...
A broken Soviet radio ...
The magnificent entrance hall...
That famous staircase ...
Here is the other panorama we took whilst inside the Male Pavilion.
It was not possible to capture the beauty of this staircase with our handy snappys so we opted to do it with a pano instead.
Click on the image below to open an interactive photo in a seperate window which you can pan and tilt...
It was not possible to capture the beauty of this staircase with our handy snappys so we opted to do it with a pano instead.
Click on the image below to open an interactive photo in a seperate window which you can pan and tilt...
The next few photos are of the first floor and the balconies...
More stair porn
I hope you will forgive us but this area is just so photogenic!
It's that shade of blue again!
We must have been back over the top of The Land Of Crumbly here...
The first of the children's ward area murals...
The right hand rabbit must watch too much TV. Get it? Square eyes? No? Suit yourself...
hey Mr. Macfarlane, Tim just went on holiday!
Sadly this pretty garden scene is flaking off the walls...
Why are these rabbits rowing what looks like a barker's egg?
Does this remind you of Walt Disney's style?
We haven't used HDR here, the colours really are that intense!
The rain was lashing down outside...
The architectural embellishment which caps the entrance roof is getting a little sad now...
The ward verandas make such a pretty picture...
Especially with all that creeper...
We managed to get out onto one of the verandas...
Looking across at the east wing from where we had taken the earlier picture...
More delicately painted column capitals...
Most of the gutter down spouts are gone and have been replaced with lengths of land drain!
You guessed it! Stair porn on the way to the top floor!
The last of our photos are of the top floor...
Looking down from the top floor...
TJ taking M taking... what?
A chimney!
This floor was probably staff rooms and it follows the "under the eves" style of the other pavilion we had visited the day before ...
The east wing again...
A "Green Room" which we found under the eves...
We are back in the middle of the building at the top of the master staircase...
It's no wonder this staircase has been photographed so often is it!
Still on the top floor we are on the way back towards the west wing again now and our explore is almost done...
Time to go down to the cellars again...
But not before we chuck in one last dollop of stair porn!
Th' th' that's all f-f-f-folks!
Hope you liked the piccies! If you want to see some more then the full set is on our website, linked below.
Thanks for looking...
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