Beelitz-Heilstätten: the sanatorium the forest took back
Marek Halden
Updated 24 September 2026
8 min read
Beelitz, Brandenburg, Germany
Beelitz-Heilstätten, south-west of Berlin, is one of the largest and most famous abandoned places in Germany. It is not a single building but a whole village of them: pavilions, wards, operating theatres and staff quarters, spread through a forest, built at the end of the nineteenth century to treat tuberculosis.
A sanatorium for fresh air
The complex was built in the 1890s and early 1900s as a sanatorium for patients with tuberculosis. At the time, the treatment for TB was largely environmental: rest, good food, sunlight and above all fresh air. Sanatoriums were therefore designed as places to breathe — long wards with tall windows, balconies for beds to be wheeled outside, and pavilions scattered among trees rather than packed into a single block.
Beelitz followed that model on a grand scale. It became one of the largest sanatorium complexes in Germany, a small town dedicated to recovery, set in the pine forests of Brandenburg.
A century of use
The complex's history tracked the century around it. It served as a sanatorium, then as a military hospital — during the First World War, Adolf Hitler was treated here for a leg wound — and later as a Soviet military hospital during the division of Germany. Through all these phases, the buildings were used, heated and maintained.
When the Soviet forces left in the 1990s, that purpose disappeared. The complex was largely abandoned, and the forest began to move back in. Roofs failed, floors softened, and the pavilions that had been built for light and air were left open to both.
A slow recovery
Parts of Beelitz-Heilstätten have since been restored or redeveloped, including a clinic and a hotel, and guided tours now run through some of the historic buildings. Other pavilions remain derelict. The site is a strange mixture of careful restoration and total decay, sometimes within a few hundred metres.
It is also one of the most photographed abandoned places in Europe. Its long corridors and tall windows have become almost a shorthand for the genre — which is fitting, because Beelitz is where the modern idea of the sanatorium was perfected.
Visiting Beelitz
Some buildings are restored and open on tours; others are derelict and off-limits. Never enter the abandoned pavilions.
- Book an official tour to see the restored buildings safely.
- Derelict pavilions are structurally unsound — stay outside.
- Respect patients, staff and residents at the working parts of the site.
Frequently asked questions
What was Beelitz-Heilstätten?
A large tuberculosis sanatorium complex near Berlin, built in the 1890s and early 1900s.
Why are sanatoriums designed the way they are?
Fresh air, sunlight and rest were the main treatments for tuberculosis, so sanatoriums were built as airy pavilions among trees.
Can you visit it?
Some restored buildings can be seen on official tours; the derelict pavilions are off-limits.
Where is it?
In Beelitz, in the state of Brandenburg, south-west of Berlin.
Related places
If this one stayed with you, these entries sit in the same corner of the archive:
- Broomhill Hospital: a derelict hospital in the Scottish hills — United Kingdom
- Pripyat: the city that was evacuated in a day — Ukraine
- Dülmen-Visbeck: the Cold War bunker under a quiet field — Germany
Marek Halden
Marek Halden has been photographing and researching abandoned places since 2019, working legally and leaving every site as found. This archive records architecture, history and the human stories behind the walls — and never encourages trespassing.