The former Olympic village has been calling my name for a long time now, but the winter chill managed to force me in doors and dissolve all motivation to venture outside and return its persistent call. But as all us in Berlin over the week know, the sun returned, this time bringing some decent heat with it so excuses were left behind and it was time to go.
Yesterday with the promise of sun and nothing to do, two friends and I decided it was time for another weekend adventure to an abandoned place. We chose to head north to explore the abandoned Iraqi Embassy in Pankow which I had heard was still full of old documents and furniture. That’s pretty hard to say no to.
Teufelsburg has been on my list of places to explore since visiting Berlin for the first time 3 years ago. For some reason summer last year passed by without me making it there and the increasingly colder weather has made my motivation slowly disappear. But on Wednesday my best friend who I first visited Berlin with came to see me with two other friends of ours, so I thought why not show them something different.
I have always been fascinated with abandoned places. I think it stems from the house that used to sit at the top of my street when I was a little girl. My mind would easily wonder off thinking about its past whenever I would see it. What happened in that house? Who lived there? Why did they leave it? Why is no one living in there now? Why is such a pretty house left all alone? These were only some of the questions that would fill my mind before I started to think up my own stories to fill the house. What if a family just like mine would live in the house and their little girl and I could play outside together until our mums called us in; or maybe an old lady lived in the house long ago, who was ever only seen looking out the top window with green light coming out around her. Endless stories were created and the fascination with abandoned buildings grew stronger.