Zentralbadeanstalt Beelitz-Heilstätten
THE ABANDONED HOSPITAL IN GERMANY
This is the men’s bath house or ‘Zentralbadeanstalt’ of the lung hospital and sanatorium ‘Beelitz-Heilstätten’. The bath house was built between 1898 and 1902 in forests around Beelitz by architects Heino Schmieden and Julius Boethke.
There was a strict gender segregation in the entire area of more than 200 hectares. This old abandoned bathhouse is located in the male part of the sanatorium, which is located south of the railway. A magnificent forest surrounds the building.
The ground floor of the bath house has several bathing areas. Also we found a beautiful large round room with an arched ceiling. The big room strangely housed only a rather small bath. Additionally the first floor contains treatment rooms and a huge wooden exercise hall.
Soviet troops
During the cold war the sanatoriums became military restricted area and accommodated a military hospital of the Soviet troops. In 1995, several years after the unification of Germany, the Soviets finally leave the hospital and the site is given back at the city of Berlin. Today, the bathhouse is cleaned and restored. I visited the ‘Beelitz-Heilstätten Zentralbadeanstalt’ in 2008 and 2016.
