The third time that I went to Kaserne Krampnitz was in November 2013 and it was, probably, the last time I gonna go there. I say this because, even though the last time I was there was back in August 2013, the place is not the same. I will tell you the story later, first let me explain to those of you who never heard about Kaserne Krampnitz, what is this place.
What is Krampnitz?
Kaserne Krampnitz was built between 1937 and 1939 as a military training center for cavalry and motorized troops of the German army. The name of this place changed a few times during the Second World War and, in April 1945, the Soviets ended up taking over the place and only left the place in 1994 when they left Germany.
When you walk around Krampnitz you can see some buildings that were built at that stage but, as they do not have anything special, maybe you should just go somewhere else. After the Russians left Kaserne Krampnitz, the site was abandoned. Left to rot and all those things. The Brandenburg government thought about making a tourist center at the site with a focus on football, but nothing happened.
And I know that a group of Danish investment bank purchased much of the site but nothing was done there. It may be that in a few years, all you will see this post from becoming a big amusement park, a resort or a few apartments and high-end luxury home. But when I went there, there was nothing like that. There was something else but no high-end luxury homes on sight.
Kaserne Krampnitz, November 2013
So, back to why I went there again in November 2013. One Saturday night, here I was in Neukölln having beers when I decided to tell my friends about urban exploring and how cool it could be. My story about exploring Kaserne Krampnitz raised some interest and, after a few more beers, some of my friends asked me if I could take them to Krampnitz on the next day. Of course I said yes and this is where everything started.
It was a cloudy autumn day when me and two couple of friends decided to go to Potsdam to explore Krampnitz. We took a rented car and arrived there easily. But, this was the only easy thing around there. Since I knew my way around the place, I decided to cut the exploring and do a little bit of touring with them. But, once i found the old casino building, every window was already bricked.
I tried my lucky around the building but nothing gave in and we decided to walk somewhere else. There were fresh tire tracks everywhere we walked and lots of the plants around the buildings were trimmed in a way that looked like it was done less than a week before.
We explored a few barrack buildings and, after a while, decided to go to the old theater place. Arriving there, we found out it was bricked as well. All the plants I saw months before were cut down and all the trees were trimmed. This way was easier to spot some details on the buildings but we couldn’t go inside the place. Every window was bricked and there was no way in.
I lead the group around the place and, since it was easier to walk around after all the plants were gone, decided to explore other buildings I haven’t been before. And, it was in one of those that I found some old movie set from, what I think it was Enemy At The Gates.
We walked around everywhere that wasn’t bricked and I saw more buildings I didn’t enter before. Since most the plants around the main buildings were cut down or trimmed, I even manage to find a weird looking pool in the middle of nowhere.
After walking for almost three hours around the place, I decided to guide my friends into where the Nazi Eagle is. But, after lots of tries, we gave up. Every window that leads into that room was bricked. Every corridor that could take us closer to that eagle, was locked with a steel door. I tried my way around the building, maybe I could find my way around other places but it was a total failure. There was no way to go there. And we ended up leaving the place with lots of pictures but it didn’t feel like a complete tour.
I am not sure about the future of the place since I keep reading lots of weird news about the future of Krampnitz. What I can say is what I saw in this place is over. Unless you want to bring a blowtorch and a sledgehammer, stay out of Kaserne Krampnitz. There is not much to see there.
Krampnitz
We were in Kaserne Krampnitz twice back in August 2013 and you can read it all here. All the pictures in this post are from Felipe Tofani and you can see a full set of it on Flickr.
If you like what you read here, you should join us on our facebook group, follow us on Facebook and Twitter and, maybe, even our Flipboard Magazine. Or even, subscribe to our newsletter!
