Abandoned Nazi and Soviet Military Complex, Berlin

Krampnitz is an abandoned Nazi and Soviet military complex just an hour from the centre of Berlin, used as a set location for movies such as Valkyrie, Resident Evil and Quentin Tarantinos’ Inglourious Basterds. The base is enormous and very easy to get lost in with over 50 buildings; we did just that.

It was built in 1937 and used by the Wehrmacht as a training school for riding, driving and cavalry.  In 1945 the Nazis abandoned the complex and it was immediately taken over by the Soviet Army until 1992 when the Soviet Union collapsed. There are plenty reminders of the Russian presence including old vodka bottles, maps and newspapers scattered around the various buildings.

A lot of the buildings have been bricked up however we still managed to get into all the notable ones – where there’s a will, there’s a way! The main buildings have changed somewhat from pictures I have seen and the infamous swastika eagle has since been covered up.

While attempting to crawl into a tiny cellar window we bumped into some fellow explorers, this scared me half to death as I was on high alert for Nazi zombies. As the buildings have been bricked up going through the cellar becomes quite tricky, the buildings are like mazes and without a torch you are blindly making your way up. We teamed up with our fellow explorers and showed each other secret entries as well as now being four, we were able to climb onto a balcony to enter one problematic building where the swastika eagle once lived.

After clambering onto the balcony we were met with many bricked up walls inside too, one building we had to go up through the dilapidated attic and down the other side just to reach the other end. We found such a variety of places, huge kitchens, a cinema, officers quarters, workshops and even a casino.

The above image is from the building used in Inglourious Basterds, this was probably the most impressive for me. In total we spent about five hours on the complex and were lucky enough not to come across any guards or maintenance people however you could literally spend days here with the complex spanning 1,215 square kilometres.

I found the endless graffiti somewhat comforting, reassuring me that many had been here before me however in this place – the fear is real. Doors creak in the wind, birds flutter in nearby rooms and strange noises whisper from every corner.

It is certainly an adrenaline filled experience and with endless abandoned buildings to explore in Berlin, I know what my new favourite pastime is going to be.

I hope you enjoyed my adventures at Krampnitz as much as I did, be sure to check out my other posts about abandoned places mentioned below.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to have ever trespassed on this property nor do I condone doing so. 

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