During the late 19th century Tuberculosis was at epidemic proportions similar to the plague. The largest sanatorium was Beelitz-Heilstätten built in 1898 consisting of over 1200 patients and 60 buildings, situated in Beelitz a rural area southwest of Germany’s capital Berlin.
A young
Adolf Hitler was treated for wounds received during WWI when it was used as a German
military hospital in 1916.
From 1945-1995 the hospital was occupied by The Red Army forces. They built
monuments of soviet soldiers holding medical supplies and painted propaganda
murals throughout the complex.
In 2014 the buildings still stand veiled by a surrounding dense snow covered forest. The textures of peeling paint and cracks help tell the story of this forgotten place. The atmosphere has inherited something from the lives of people who slept here and the people who have died here. There is grandeur and beauty all around me.
This photographic project was conceived as part of a trip to Germany in 2014.
