Incidental Images

This is a series of photos which we (that is, Torsten & I) shot inside the decaying former sanatoriums in Beelitz, in the vicinity of Berlin. This complex of 60 or so buildings was built between 1860 and 1930, at a time when tuberculosis was killing off many residents of Berlin, especially in the overpopulated working class quarters.

The complex was like a small self sufficient community, with its own bakery and even train station. It was divided in buildings for men and for women.

Serving as a military hospital during each of the two world wars, it became, after World War II, a Soviet military hospital, which it remained until the Russian troops left Germany in 1994.

Since then, the buildings have been left to decay. Windows and roofs are pretty much gone, and it's only a matter of time until there's very little left.