Rest Home "Wasted Years"

In 1936, a barracks area was laid out west of a small town not far from Berlin. The first soldiers to occupy the new barracks were members of a barrage balloon unit of the Luftwaffe. In 1940 the barracks were converted into a facility for training medical personnel.

Until the end of the war, the facility was also used as a hospital. Several hundred German soldiers who died here found their rest in a nearby cemetery.

There were almost 40 barrack buildings on the site. Shortly after the end of the war, some barracks were

destroyed. The remaining 22 barracks were used as accommodation for resettlers since 1946. In 1947, an infirmary was added, and in 1948, the facility was converted into a nursing home. From 1956 to 1958, massive buildings were erected. Up to 1200 old people and people in need of care were accommodated in the nursing home.

By the time of the German reunification in 1990, there were around 600 people living there under the worst possible conditions. In that year, even the Prime Minister of the GDR Lothar de Maizière visited the nursing home to find out about the situation.

In 2003, the remaining original barracks were demolished.

Visited: February 17, 2019 and August 16, 2019

Location: Undisclosed

Status: Abandoned