A Familiar Villa, A Familiar Result

I usually start and end my season visiting locations in the capital region. I had already checked this seaside villa out in the spring without any luck. I wasn’t very hopeful this time, either, as the city had recently again put the protected villa up for sale.

How right I was, no luck. The windows even seem to have fresh plywood on them. Abandoned perhaps, but not neglected.

I’ll be back in the spring. The season is close to being over.

Adventures First, Jacuzzi Second Part III

The third location was this former municipal home. It was originally built in 1923-24 as a private villa, but then bought by the municipality and enlarged into a municipal home in 1931. It continued in this use until the late 1970’s, when a new nursing home was built and this building relegated into auxiliary use.

The building was last used as the town’s employment office in the 1990’s. It’s been abandoned ever since.

The building’s long abandonment was clearly visible.

Even the parking lot had been unused for a while.

There were several entrances, but all seemed well sealed.

I am very much too big for that hole, but at least there is a hole.

There was nothing at the back. The building seen behind this one is the new municipal home from early 1950’s, which was an enlargement to this building.

The basement door was open, but the basement was inaccessible, as there was loads of debris in front of the inner door.

This is what the insides look through the gap in the door. But no entry.

So it was time for some pasta, beer, sauna and jacuzzi.

Adventures First, Jacuzzi Second Part II

The following abandoned building wasn’t very far away. As you can see, neither was autumn.

There is a sign warning of cameras here. Surprising.

Entering the driveway.

Well, it looks like just an ordinary one family house.

Surprisingly enough, the camera surveillance might actually be true this time.

The mailbox has stood there for a long time.

Let’s see, what’s on the other side.

And the answer was actually a camera. So let’s leave this place for now.

Adventures First, Jacuzzi Second Part I

It was already September. My friend moved to the outskirts of the capital region and her new block of flats had a big sauna department with a jacuzzi downstairs. She invited me for an evening of sauna. And before that an exploration of locations she had found during her walks there.

This one looks clearly abandoned.

Originally a business building of some sort, it last was used by an organization, which provided services to substance abusers and other people with issues in their everyday life. The boards appeared on the windows between 2019 and 2021.

The upstairs probably featured apartments. The building was built on a hillside.

Moving on to the backyard.

This was probably the entrance to the upstairs apartments. Even it was closed.

There were even two garages at the back.

The thrash area was thrashed.

There was even a small balcony. But no entry.

According to old aerial photos, the building appears in the early 1940’s.

A Second Set Of Eyes Was Helpful

One evening I got a message from my friend walking the family dogs. He sent me a video about the old youth association building being demolished. I of course knew that this was coming, had been coming for years. But now it was actually happening. So I simply scratched the building of my list and went on.

I was rather suprised, when later that night I started receiving photos and videos from inside the building. That little monkey had climbed over the fence and gone exploring.

I asked if I could feature the photos on my site and got the permission. As I wasn’t inside myself, there won’t be the usual commentary. These are also the first photos not taken by myself in this blog.

The poster advertises friday 13th as the accident theme day and wishes for a safe summer.

And as you can clearly see, the building didn’t stand for long. It was gone before the autumn was over.

Goodbye My Love

Late August always held a lot of excitement back then. It was the time when I had to decide whether I would keep my summer car or not. As the yearly inspection had to be carried out around that time, its results were the most important thing affecting my decision.

Now remember, that I had bought the model year 1993 car in 2022 for 1700 euros. During two summers I had driven 37 000 kilometers without making any repairs, whatsoever. I knew that there would be something. Little did I know, what was coming.

The inspector notified no less than 10 shortcomings, five of which were grave enough to fail the car and five, which were less severe, but would still have failed the car, because there were more three of them. The car failed the emission test, there was a hole in the catalysator and rust had eaten a hole in both the chassis and the body of the car. One shock absorber was also worn out.

The less serious issues were a loose handbrake, unclear headlights, a worn out reflector and a broken taillight unit, a missing plug for the trailer’s electronics and worn out windshield vipers. The protective plastic bay below the engine was also coming off.

I had received a three month grant for writing a novel and was about to take a sabbatical. My choices were to invest 1000 euros to the repairs of the car or get 800 euros extra money.

I sold my beloved Alice.

This is my final photo of it. I was left with a custom keyring with its name on it and lots of memories.

Business And Pleasure Go Well Together Again Part VII

While I was in the region because of business, I decided to combine it with pleasure. As there were no hotels in the town I was about to visit after the last one became abandoned a few years back, I stayed in the neighboring town. There was a location, which I had frantically chased for more than a year now.

We are of course talking about this municipal home, which I visited just around a month earlier.

Unfortunately I was unlucky this time, too. No entries for me in here.

I did the interviews the following day and left back home.

Business And Pleasure Go Well Together Again Part VI

And so we have reached another familiar location. This is the business and apartment building featured earlier in here.

It featured a bar, which was closed for ages.

There was another business space as well.

The building was protected, but the owner still wanted to demolish it.

The entrance to the apartments was at the back.

A lonely moped helmet is on the stairs.

And we’ll finish this post with a blurred image of the stairs leading to the apartments. No entry here.

Business And Pleasure Go Well Together Again Part V

Welcome yet to another familiar location. This one here is the former clinic featured earlier here.

Since my previous visit nothing much has changed. It is still empty and boared shut as ever.

The back side of the building.

Vandalism has reached the walls.

The pillars actually don’t look that stable.

The signs are still there. The laboratorium is no more, though.

The downstairs is the clinic. The upstairs are staff apartments.

The upstairs featured a large balcony.

I expected no entry, I gained no entry.

Business And Pleasure Go Well Together Again Part IV

The following location is also a former school. But not just any school. It was the secondary school, which my friend attended in the 2010’s.

The school was built in 1964 and closed in 2013, when my friend graduated from it. She was really eager to get inside.

The building was badly vandalized, but again well closed.

The pupils weren’t allowed to use this door I have been told.

The school was called the U-school. That is because it was built in the shape of a U.

When I took the pictures, the school had been abandoned for 10 years. The reason why it wasn’t already demolished was, that it was the location of the local civil defense shelter.

The forest was steadily growing around the location.

And now we’re entering the courtyard of the school. This is where my friend had lots of memories from.

The courtyard. The school was built on a hillside, which was customary in the 1960’s. That’s why it has two floors on the front side but only one at the back.

Every single window and door was covered.

And the same theme continued on the other side of the courtyard.

The functionalistic building behind the school was the original school building, this one was just an extension. It was sold to a private investor, restaurated perfectly and became offices.

This school was also for sale, but no buyer was found. Its fate was to be demolition.

This is probably the former caretaker’s apartment.

Another view of the courtyard.

And the final side of the school. Unfortunately there was no entry.

The school was demolished in 2024, but these are not my last pictures of it.