Gettting a car this morning is quite an adventure, not a fun one. After Alamo Mitte called us the evening before that they don’t have a car and that we should go to the airport location which will have one this morning we have to relocate to the airport instead of taking the car from near the hotel. And when we get there they actually don’t have a car so now we have to find another car. Finally with the help of Sixt we are on our way to the first stop for today the Beelitz Heilstätten a fomer sanatorium now abandoned. Parking is a bit off from the entrance but the views are quite good already from near the parking lot.
There are two paths, one going to the above ground path called Baumkronenpfad and the other one going through a barfoot area. We know the above ground path costs a lot so we decide to go through the barfoot area and see how long you can walk for free in that direction.
The path we take is fenced in on both sides however it is really close to the abandoned sanatorium. There are some nice views of the buildings and even of the elevated platform that can be used to see the ruins from above for about 20 euros per person. Beelitz is one of the most famous sanatoriums in Germany erected in 1898 and then made a military hospital in World War I. Famously even Hitler recuperated here in 1916 after being wounded in the leg in the battle of the Somme. After World War 2 it was used as a Soviet military hospital until 1994 with another famous patient in 1990 Honecker, the former president of the DDR, after he was deposed. And then it was mostly abandoned and made into the attraction we are visiting today.
At the end of the barfoot path we are following is actually a barfoot park with a separate entrance fee that is actually separate from the sanatorium and also doesn’t have any additional views. So we decide to return and explore the other path from the parking lot to see if we can go round the enclosure and get additional views.
The majority of the views for quite a section are of the former surgery building, or at least that is what we guess it is, the most impressive building in the sanatorium.
As we continue on the path we find a few more smaller buildings, villas or residences for the doctors most likely.
The path ends at a second parking area that is for buses only and also has the only free restroom here. It also has some impressive views of the central building, or at least we assume it is the main building as it is the most fancy looking from all the ones we have seen.
From here we decide to return on a different route and find a cache if at all possible. We also find out that around here is where the Beelitzer asparagus (spargel) is originating which is what we ordered at the Michelin restaurant in Berlin given that they are in season. The cache takes a bit to find as we were looking in the wrong place but we do find it and then it is time to find the best route to the parking place.
Luckily even though we walk alongside the main street there is a sidewalk alongside it that isn’t used by anyone else and soon we are back in the parking lot and then our way to Halle (Salle) our next and final goal for today before Leipzig.
