Sowjetische Schule No. 71
THE ABANDONED SCHOOL IN GERMANY
Sowjetische Schule No. 71 was a large secondary school in Jüterbog that was set up in a former German officers’ mess. It was build in 1912 and abandoned in 1994 after the Soviet military forces withdrew from Germany.
The area around Jüterbog, has a long military tradition, with immense training grounds and shooting ranges. This abandoned place was build in 1912 as an officers’ mess of the artillery shooting school.
The mess is converted into a tax office for the Finanzambt in 1926.
After the Second World War, the building was used as School No. 71 for the children of the Soviet officers stationed in the area. Jüterbog was part of East Germany and remained an important garrison town, but now for the Red Army. The school was not in the restricted area. Students were brought to the school by buses from several locations.
In the 1970s, an extension was built next to the main building. The annex was connected via a corridor. In this new part there was a large gymnasium. The sports room in the old part didn’t have enough space to house the many students.
Inside the classrooms, posters, and display boards cover aspects of agriculture, mathematics, and the military. They show warnings for nuclear threats during the Cold War and praise the heroes of the Soviet Union.
The building is a listed building, but it has been empty since the Soviet military forces withdrew in 1994. I visited the abandoned school in 2020.
