Former Russian hospital by Eus Driessen

About "Former Russian hospital"

by Eus Driessen

About the artwork

Beelitz - Heilstätten, a district of the city, is home to a large hospital complex of about 60 buildings, including a combined heat and power plant built from 1898 on the basis of plans by architect Heino Schmieden. Originally designed as a sanatorium by the Berlin workers' health insurance corporation, the complex from the beginning of the First World War on was a military hospital of the German Imperial Army. In October and November 1916, Adolf Hitler recovered at Beelitz - Heilstätten after being wounded in the leg at the Battle of the Somme. In 1945, Beelitz - Heilstätten was occupied by Soviet troops, and the complex remained a Soviet military hospital until 1995, well after German reunification. In December 1990 Erich Honecker was admitted to Beelitz - Heilstätten after being forced to resign as head of the East German government.

After the Soviet withdrawal, attempts were made to privatize the complex, but they were not undivided success. Some parts of the hospital continue to function as a neurological rehabilitation center and as a center for research and care for the victims of Parkinson's disease. The rest of the complex, such as the surgery, the psychiatric department, and a firing range, was abandoned in 2000. As of 2007, none of the abandoned hospital buildings or the surrounding area were secured, making the area feel like a ghost town. Various films and videos (Valkyrie, The Pianist, clip by Rammstein) are filmed here.