The third time I went to Kaserne Krampnitz was in November 2013, and it was probably the last time I would go there. I say this because, even though the last time I was there was back in August 2013, the place is different.
I will tell you the story later; first, let me explain what this place is to those of you who have never heard about Kaserne Krampnitz.
What is Kaserne 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 it 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 considered making a tourist center at the site focusing on football, but nothing happened.
And I know that a group of Danish investment banks purchased much of the site, but nothing was done there. It may be that in a few years, all you will see is this post becoming a giant amusement park, a resort, or a few apartments and high-end luxury homes. But when I went there, there was nothing like that. There was something else, but no high-end luxury homes in sight.
Our Visit to Kaserne Krampnitz
So, back to why I went there again in November 2013. One Saturday night, I was in Neukölln, having beers, when I decided to tell my friends about urban exploration 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 the next day. Of course, I said yes, and this is where everything started.
It was a cloudy autumn day when II and two friends decided to go to Potsdam to explore Krampnitz. We took a rented car and arrived there quickly. 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 some touring with them. But, once I found the old casino building, every window was already bricked.
I tried my luck around the building but nothing gave in and we decided to walk elsewhere. 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 had been 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 had seen months before were cut down, and all the trees were trimmed. This made spotting some details on the buildings easier, but we couldn’t go inside the place. Every window was bricked, and there was no way in.
I led the group around the place, and since it was easier to walk around after all the plants were gone, I decided to explore other buildings I hadn’t been to before. And it was in one of those that I found some old movie set from what I think was Enemy At The Gates.
We walked everywhere that wasn’t bricked, and I saw more buildings I hadn’t entered before. Since most of the plants around the main buildings were cut down or trimmed, I even found a weird-looking pool in the middle of nowhere.
After walking for almost three hours around the place, I decided to guide my friends to where the Nazi Eagle was. 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 failed. There was no way to go there. We left the place with many 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.
Our Visit to Kaserne Krampnitz in November 2013
Krampnitzsee – Potsdam
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; you can see a complete set on Flickr.
