GERMANY's
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HAVE YOU HAD A PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE AT THIS LOCATION?
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By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:DorisAntony" title="User:DorisAntony">Doris Antony</a>, Berlin - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:DorisAntony" title="User:DorisAntony">Doris Antony</a>, Berlin - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
History
This massive complex of over 60 buildings was originally constructed in 1898 by the newly formed German Empire as a tuberculosis sanatorium.
It functioned as a sanatorium until 1930 but was taken over by the military during the World War I (1914-1918) for treating causalities. A young Corporal named Adolf Hitler was hospitalized here in 1918 suffering from a mustard gas attack and leg wound from a machine gun.
During World War II (1939-1945) the complex was also turned into a military hospital for the treatment of war injuries.
In 1945 when the war ended the hospital was in the Soviet section of a divided Germany – soon to be known as East Germany – and they kept it functioning as a military hospital until 1995. Curiously, this is 5 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its hold on any German territory.
Once the hospital was passed to the new unified Germany, they closed most of it. One section was left open for the creation of a neurological institute and hospital and rest was left derelict.
There are some very dark chapters related to this site while it was mostly abandoned.
In the 1990’s a serial killer was active in the area who would kidnap women related to the hospital site and straggle them with pink lingerie. He would then leave their bodies draped in the lingerie.
In 2008 a photographer – Michael – brought a model – Anja – to the site to take photos of her in the abandoned operating theatre. He then brought her to a converted apartment in the old gatehouse where he beat her to death with a frying pan and raped her corpse.
In 2015 some of the buildings were converted into residential apartments and a canopied walkway was built through the abandoned part for tourists to walk and see the buildings from the outside. Entering the buildings is forbidden and quite dangerous due to their ruined state and levels of asbestos, lead and other dangerous materials.
Paranormal Activity
This hospital complex is more haunted by its reputation than ghosts. It is massive and hundreds if not thousands or tens of thousands of people have breathed their last within its confines so it stands to reason there could be paranormal activity. Then there’s the murders and the rumours of what happened while it was under the ownership of 2 of history’s most brutal regimes – the Nazis and the Soviets.
The German Empire - under Prussian control - weren't the sweetest people either for that matter. Not to mention tuberculosis had a well deserved reputation as having a 50% fatality rate.
There are reports of what could be genuine paranormal activity that have been witnessed by the urban explorers and paranormal investigators that have flocked to this site since it was abandoned.
These include: apparitions of former patients, soldiers and staff; shadow figures sliding along the walls who occasionally approach the living; disembodied voices, phantom footsteps, screams and other unexplained sounds; light anomalies; cold and hot spots; dark shapes moving quickly past the empty windows and feelings of being watched, being followed, not being alone and not being wanted.
An eeriness is said to cover the entire site but that would be hard to avoid in such a large abandoned area with such an unknown but dark and legendary history.
HAVE YOU HAD A PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE AT THIS LOCATION?
Please Share Your Experiences
History
The castle was built in the 13th Century by Ulrich Von Laaber in order to create a defensive structure for the safety of the surrounding area.
It has never been attacked and was mostly used for housing allied troops traveling through the area. Eventually, the castle was simply abandoned and used by the town below to house local families in need of a home.
In its recent history it has been under a restoration – which is ongoing – first by a wealthy owner and then by volunteers. The castle now functions as a museum of medieval weapons among other exhibits.
Paranormal Activity
A “woman in white” haunts the castle.
The gothic story tells of the castle’s builder – Ulrich Von Laaber – having business taking him away from the castle for months at a time. His wife – Klara – found other residents of the castle to meet her needs. Eventually Ulrich would find out about his wife’s wanderings from her marital duties and hire some townsmen to put an end to her.
Historically, records show Klara actually outlived her husband making the tale of a spurned husband nothing more than a fairy tale.
No matter who the “woman in white” truly is she is said to be the apparition seen wandering the castle’s halls, rooms and battlements. Poltergeist activity, light anomalies, electrical disturbances and feelings of being watched and not being alone in the castle are also blamed on this ghost.
Legend says many people have disappeared in the woods immediately surrounding the castle; including Ulrich himself and a number of his sons. There are stories of something simply called “The Hole” is responsible.
“The Hole” is said to be a large rip in the ground that leads to set of caverns that have never been fully explored. It said mounds of bones – no word if they’re human or not – was found in one of these caverns and that a large quite nasty monster lives in the lower levels.
There are no directions to “The Hole” in modern times and local folklore is not releasing its secrets so no one actually admits to knowing where this cave is; or if it even really exists.