Berlin and its surrounding have some places that are hidden and forgotten. Since so many things have happened around here since the war, they can be quite a historical treasure. We weren’t familiarised with them since a couple of weeks back…we met an Italian guy, Maurizio, at our German language class and he invited us to go with him and his other Italian friend, who is a Historian, to go visit the lost city of Vogelsang. I’ve never in my life been to places like these, and I was a little afraid of what I could run into there…but gladly it all went well and became a super interesting trip!

Vogelsang started to be build by the Russians in 1951, and became home to around 15,000 soldiers and civilians, it was a military soviet base where they kept tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, tactical missiles and even nuclear missiles. They say that at the time, nobody knew what happened behind those guarded walls. Setting aside its war purpose, it looks like the place was really organised, the site is huge 5,800-hectare. We were able to identify a school building, theater, gymnasium, warehouses, cafeteria…..the forest is reclaiming the space and some parts have been totally destroyed, like the missile base.

If you are an adventurous person, I highly recommend visiting Vogelsang, prepare yourself to wake up really early (we woke up 5:00 am), because it takes about two hours to get there from Berlin, wear comfortable shoes because you will end up walking all day long, pack a lot of snacks because there isn’t any coffee shops nearby, bring a camera, maps and maybe watch out for wild animals like wolves and boars, we didn’t encounter any wildlife, but you never know. Also, be careful when you are in the buildings, they are really in a bad shape. And if you are in the mood…a little bottle of vodka for ol’ times sake! We got the directions on the website Abandoned Berlin, you can find other tips there and other places to visit, really good blog!