My midsummer tour had now advanced to my destination, a town, the name of which I won’t disclose here. I spent the midsummer night grilling, chilling and in the sauna with friends, we even did some midsummer spells and went to the karaoke. We had a great time.
I was up early the following day, as I had agreed to meet a couple of other friends. One of them knew the area very well and was also an urban explorer. They had the knowledge, I had the car, and often when we met on their hoods, they had planned an adventure for us.
My friend first guided me to small dirt roads, to the middle of nowhere, where we found an interesting looking group of buildings.
This, they told me, was an old municipal home. They were places founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where people who had no other place to live, lived in. This often included elderly people, who nobody supported any more, the mentally ill and disabled. They were often located outside towns and villages, so that these people would be out of sight.
The old wooden building was protected, but had been empty for years.
Since the early 20th century the municipal homes were expanded and specialized. Some got new annexes and became mental asylums, others became nursing homes. New institutions called central plants were built for the disabled and so on.
Even this municipal home got a new wing in the 1940’s or 1950’s judging by the architecture. It last served as a living and rehabilitation unit for alcoholics and the disabled. They moved out in the early 2000’s.
The reason was mould. The buildings were in a very bad shape already almost 20 years ago, and since the city hadn’t made up what to do with them, they were just shut down. The sign on the door says, that face masks are mandatory. And this is not covid.
I found the fate of this building rather sad. If it hasn’t yet become clear, this style is one of my favourite building styles ever.
We did walk around the building, but didn’t find a way in. And even if we had found, we might not have used it. After all, we wore no protection, and warnings like that are very uncommon even in abandoned houses.
The complex even icluded a newer house from the 1960’s or 1970’s. Its use was unclear.
There was also a cowhouse behind the buildings. This was a common feature in municipal homes and mental hospitals, as back in the days they thought, that working was good for the mentally ill.
We found no access to the buildings, so we went on with our adventures.