When exploring the village school in the middle of nowhere a few days earlier, I launched the concept of big catches. They’re places, which I’ve tried to photograph for a long time, or find otherwise extremely interesting. They are often large, have lots to explore and have an interesting history. Being able to explore one of these big catches gives the sweetest feeling ever.
Well, I was now approaching the second big catch prospect of the summer. I had spotted it in an urban exploration Facebook group, done a hell lot of research to locate it, and finally managed to place it on a map.
Here we have a first glimpse of it. And this is just one wing.
A look back. This is not a cathedral or a school.
The building was U-shaped. Here I’m taking my first steps on the courtyard.
As you can see, the complex is huge. And very badly damaged.
The main entrance. But what the hell is this place?
It was built as a paint factory in the 1940’s. The rumor has it, that there were plans for a huge complex and this building was just to be the headquarters. But the banks refused to give out more loans, so they started manufacturing paint in the headquarters building instead.
The company went bankrupt after just a year. Another company bought it and operated a paint factory for almost 20 years. When they closed it down in the 1960’s, the building found new use. What it was, I didn’t know yet. But I sure was to find out soon.
A very sad sight. The building is very beautiful and I would love to see it get a new life. Because of its remote location, I’m not hopeful, however.
First impressions from the main lobby. The building has hints of functionalism, which also explains the round wall.
All in all the lobby wasn’t very large.
A dressing room. Interesting.
Um. What the hell is that?
A second dressing room. This one is facing the road running past the building and the windows are already getting more interesting.
There was also a lot of furniture stored here.
This part of the building was a maze of small rooms, which made abslolutely no sense to me.
Yet the small rooms had large windows.
The ceiling was also pretty high up, as you can determine by the size of the door, which is ordinary.
I had been inside for only a few minutes, and already I considered this a very beautiful, yet sad sight. I loved the building.
The funny thing was that the materials didn’t look that old. Floors like that became fashionable only in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
A kitchen. Interesting.
But despite the floors being mint, the walls had been neglected for years if not decades.
In the following post I’ll enter the cathedral like part.