Beelitz-Heilstätten by Michal Huniewicz

Beelitz-Heilstätten is a district of the German town of Beelitz, which is a bit over 40 km away from Berlin. In 1898 there were 60 sanatorium buildings erected in that place. During World War 1, the complex became a military hospital of the Imperial German Army. One of its famous patients was Adolf Hitler, with a wounded leg. [1]

The complex was used by the Soviet army until 1995, and it was abandoned in 2000 - and has remained so, except for a few buildings which are now in use. [1]

It was a film set for The Pianist and Valkyrie among others, and a bunch of S&M films. [1] [7]

Below, some of my photos - including infrared (IR) pictures. All of the IR pictures are genuine, i.e. not simulated with software.

Thanks goes to: Andrzej Huniewicz, Deborah Sandidge, Jesús Hurtado, Joanna Zbroja, Martin Roddam.

Uploaded on: 2012-06-01. Updated on: 2026-01-23.

Map showing Beelitz-Heilstätten location (opens in OpenStreetMap)

[Infrared] Welcome to Beelitz

[Infrared] Welcome to Beelitz
This is one the first buildings I saw. Beelitz-Heilstätten consists of four parts, divided so by a road and rail tracks. This is in the North-East part. ISO 640, 11mm, f/5.6, 5/1s.

[Infrared] Pulmonology

[Infrared] Pulmonology
This and the first picture show the pulmonology building. [2] ISO 200, 11mm, f/7.1, 20/1s.

[Infrared] Lounge

[Infrared] Lounge
These blocks apparently used to be the lounge. This picture and the following are in the North-West part. All the infrared pictures were taken using a tripod with a shutter release, R72 filter; exposure time was between 10-20 seconds. Let me know if you have any questions about infrared photography. ISO 200, 11mm, f/6.3, 20/1s.

Women's Pulmonology

Women's Pulmonology
Inside women's pulmonology. The sanatorium was created as a response to skyrocketing tuberculosis rates, caused by urbanisation. [3] West side of the sanatorium was for women, East for men. [4] ISO 200, 11mm, f/7.1, 1/25s.

Fridge

Fridge
Fridge. ISO 200, 11mm, f/7.1, 1/15s.

[Infrared] Anja P.

[Infrared] Anja P.
The sanatorium feels very peaceful now, but it has witnessed quite a lot of violence. In 2008 a photographer named Michael F. brought a young model, Anja P., to the complex to take pictures of her. Afterwards, he beat her to death with a frying pan, and then had sex with her dead body. [3] He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. [6] But it was not the only Beelitz murder... The area in this picture is stained with blood of the victims of another sadistic killer (more below). ISO 200, 11mm, f/6.3, 15/1s.

[Infrared] Trespass

[Infrared] Trespass
... ...
When the tomb-stone, oppressing thy timorous breast,
And thy hips drooping sweetly with listless decay,
The pulse and desires of mine heart shall arrest,
And thy feet from pursuing their adventurous way,

Then the grave, that dark friend of my limitless dreams
(For the grave ever readeth the poet aright),
Amid those long nights, which no slumber redeems

'Twill query—"What use to thee, incomplete spright
That thou ne'er hast unfathomed the tears of the dead"?—
Then the worms will gnaw deep at thy body, like Dread.
-- Charles Baudelaire, Posthumous Remorse [10] ISO 200, 11mm, f/6.3, 30/1s.

Pink Giant

Pink Giant
Beelitz-Heilstätten is where a serial killer operated in 1989-1991. His name was Wolfgang Schmidt, and he murdered 6 people (5 adult women, one 3-month-old baby) to become known as Die Bestie von Beelitz, and after being caught while masturbating in the woods, he was found guilty of the murders, and sentenced to 15 years in a psychiatric hospital. [4] His modus operandi was less than subtle, and involved strangling or stabbing to death, after which he would leave pink panties at the murder scene. [8] Interestingly, he has since changed his gender and became known as Beate, as she now calls herself, or the Pink Giant, as others call her. [5] ISO 200, 15mm, f/3.5, 1/50s.

Yoko

Yoko
And this is my friend Yoko, standing in a corridor. I brought her to Beelitz to take pictures of her. ISO 200, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/250s.

BLA

BLA
Here's Yoko trying not to get cut in two by large pieces of glass. ISO 200, 11mm, f/7.1, 1/15s.

Inside the surgery building

Inside the surgery building
This is inside the large surgery building. ISO 200, 11mm, f/7.1, 5/1s.

[Infrared] Terrace

[Infrared] Terrace
Terrace on top of the surgery building. If you decide to go there, there are two small staircases on the top, they are both rather dark, and the West-most staircase has a huge hole in the stairs (effectively two or three steps are missing), so take the East-most staircase. ISO 200, 11mm, f/3.5, 20/1s.

Terrace

Terrace
Same place, but now in black and white. ISO 200, 11mm, f/16.0, 1/125s.

Lift shaft

Lift shaft
We waited a bit but the lift didn't come. ISO 200, 11mm, f/3.5, 1/80s.

Balcony

Balcony
Balcony. These balconies were used for "air-baths". [3] ISO 200, 11mm, f/5.0, 20/1s.

Yoko on the balcony

Yoko on the balcony
Yoko on the balcony. ISO 200, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/8000s.

Have a seat

Have a seat
Have a seat - or better not. ISO 200, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/1250s.

Women's Pulmonology 2

Women's Pulmonology 2
This is the second building of women's pulmonology (still in the North-West part, but South of the other one). ISO 200, 11mm, f/4.0, 1/8s.

Nature prevails

Nature prevails
The whole complex is being taken over by nature. Please keep in mind the buildings have only been abandoned since 2000. [4] There is a documentary series which discusses what Earth would become in humans instantly disappeared. ISO 200, 11mm, f/4.0, 1/8s.

[Infrared] Mutant spider

[Infrared] Mutant spider
This is not really a spider, just some roots, and the whole thing is actually on the roof. ISO 200, 11mm, f/5.6, 20/1s.

[Infrared] On the roof

[Infrared] On the roof
On the roof. Apparently, the building was bombed. [9] ISO 200, 11mm, f/5.6, 30/1s.

Underground

Underground
There are fairly long tunnels and cellars under this building. Every now and then it feels like potholing, you have to squeeze through narrow gaps in the walls. ISO 3200, 11mm, f/2.8, 1/25s.

Bed

Bed
Hospital bed. ISO 200, 11mm, f/3.5, 1/15s.

Famous stairs

Famous stairs
Men's sanatorium, South-East part. This is, quite likely, where Hitler used to hang out while being a patient. ISO 200, 11mm, f/5.0, 1/13s.

Men's sanatorium

Men's sanatorium
And here our trip ended - because we got caught! We got caught by two women, and one of them was naked - true story. Unfortunately, there was a rather uneasy man with them; he asked us to leave without delay. And so we did. Now I hope it wasn't Michael F. ISO 200, 11mm, f/5.0, 1/6s.
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