We found quite a bit of graffiti on the walls at
Lier sykehuset, but I was actually surprised how little there was. Considering that the buildings have been abandoned since 1985 and are just sitting there with no lock or secure fence around them, I assumed they would be filled with abusive graffiti and general idiocy.
I saw this giant monstrosity of a fruit in a small stall in Berlin. I’d have bought one, but I don’t think I would have managed to finish it 😛
During our visit to Lier sykehuset, Alice and I checked out building A, which was unfortunately being destroyed. There was a small warning sign in front of the building, but it was rather obvious that entering was horridly bad idea, since half of it had been pulled down already :/
My friend Alice and I visited the Lier sykehuset in Norway. It was a mental hospital built in 1926 and operated until 1985.
Between 1945 and 1974, staff at Lier sykehuset conducted experiments with LSD, performed lobotomi’s and tested new drugs which the pharmaceutical industry were not allowed to test. They also performed experimental research with radioactive isotopes on patients. Patients were known to have been placed in isolation and inflicted with prolonged use of belts and straitjackets.
Most of the buildings now sit abandoned and are due to be knocked down. Two of the buildings were fenced off and had warning signs, but two of them had an entrance way through their surrounding fences and an open door for entering the building through.
The Reichstag is a spectacular looking building in Berlin, which was used by the German parliament from 1894 to 1933, then was gutted by fire. The German parliament moved to Bonn until reunification with East Germany in 1990, then they moved back to the Reichstag in 1999 where they are still based today.
I climbed to the top of the Berlin Siegessäule (Victory Monument) with my new friend Annette. The monument was originally built to commemorate the Danish-Prussian War, but by the time it was erected in 1873, it was also used to commemorate the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. It was smaller and located closer to the German parliament, but the Nazi’s moved it further away and lengthened it by 7.5 m in 1939. The French wanted to dynamite the monument in 1945, but thankfully they were prevented from doing that and we were still able to enjoy the (windy) view of Berlin from the top.
I visited the “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe” in Berlin, a collection of huge concrete slabs. Not far from there is the “Sinti and Roma memorials”, containing a peaceful garden and a small pond.
I visited the Brandenburg gate in Berlin. This is a huge concrete monolith built in 1791. It is has been used for political statements by Napoleon and Hitler and was made off-limits during much of the communist reign in East Germany to avoid it being used for political purposes. This situation changed after reunification in 1990, and now anyone can wander underneath it’s huge arches.
The history of the Berlin wall is fascinating. The wall itself … not so much. It’s just a concrete/wire mesh fence really. Not much to see.
What has surprised me the most about the Berlin wall, is how many people I know who don’t know anything about it. They know that it existed, but not why or how it came to be. If you are in that camp, then I recommend doing some reading up on the subject. I’m not going to attempt to explain it here myself, as there are others who are far more knowledgeable about such things than I and can explain it much better.
I visited the Nazi party rally grounds (Reichsparteitagsgelände) in Nürnberg (Nuremberg). This area is where the German Nazi party held their huge party rallies between 1933 and 1938. ~150,000 people could assemble to celebrate the German Nazi party, alongside Adolf Hitler and other prominent national socialists.
After World War 2, the huge swastikas and eagles were blown off of the top of the main section via explosives. The blast marks are still present.
Unfortunately, years of decay resulted in a lot of the front facade being removed due to it being considered too hazardous, but the primary section in the middle is still present. It sure is creepy standing up there and looking out at what would have been a sea of fans adoring their Führer.
Scroll to the bottom to see some photos of what the area looked like during the 1930’s.
