Infanterie-Schießschule Wünsdorf
THE ABANDONED MILITARY SITE IN GERMANY
The military history of Wünsdorf goes back to the early 1900s. By 1910 there were quite a few army barracks in Wünsdorf. Part of this growing military city was the shooting school, or the ‘Infanterie-Schießschule’.
The military school consisted of many buildings. There was the hauptwache, office building, two guest buildings, a drill hall, riding hall and stables, a theater and a casino.
After the Second World War, the city of Wünsdorf was the Red Army’s headquarters in Germany. In fact, it was the biggest Soviet military camp outside the USSR. The Soviet Army used the school as barracks, named ‘Kaserne des Wachregiments der Sowjetischen Streitkräfte in Deutschland’.
1994
During the Cold War, Little Moscow, as Wünsdorf was nicknamed, was home to as many as 60 thousand Soviet men, women, and children. The city had everything for their needs including schools, supermarkets, and businesses. In 1994, the Soviets left behind a 260-hectare area. Some buildings have since been converted back into homes and occupied by families lured by affordable housing to the middle of a forest. Others are still abandoned. I visited this site in 2016. Also check this Haus der Offiziere in the same city.
