The St. Nicholas Breaker was located between Mahanoy City and Shenandoah in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in the southern part of the Coal Region. The breaker was once the world’s largest coal breaker, being the size of a city block and capable of processing 12,500 tons of coal per day. It has been described as having […]

St. Nicholas Breaker

I first encountered this monumental ship about one year ago, while on the way to a food palor after another exploring trip to Philly. I thought I was dreaming. There she was, as if the Titanic never sank but put secretely asside to haunt the present, a modern „Elizabeth Dane“. Naturally, the beauty was behind […]

SS United States

On November 22, 1915, Proctor’s Palace opened in downtown Newark. The Building was designed by architect John W. Merrow, the nephew of Proctor theatre circuit owner Frederick F. Proctor. The Palace was one of the rare double decker theatres, which meant that one auditorium was stacked on top of the other. The lower, street-level auditorium […]

Proctor's Theatre

Sleepy Hollow is a well known place, mainly due to the mysterious tale written down by Washington Irving. The little town close to Tarrytown in the State of New York has also one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the area, full of history and resting souls. The official website of the cemetery writes the […]

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

In the heart of Bridgeport stands an abandoned 13-acre building complex that includes the Poli Palace, the Majestic Theater. The Loew’s Poli Theater was built by theater impresario Sylvester Poli as a vaudeville house, and opened for business on Sept. 4, 1922. Designed by Thomas W. Lamb in the Beaux Arts style, it featured vaulted […]

Mezzanine in the Palace Theater

Last August, I had the pleasure to attend my second Covenant concert in New York, in the Le Poison Rouge Club in Manhattan. After my so-so experience with photography permission during the VNV Nation concert earlier, I contacted the band via their Facebook page prior to the event and asked whether I could take some […]

Covenant live in New York 2012

The Tribute in Light is an art installation of 88 7,000-watt xenon searchlights positioned into two 48-foot squares that echo the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers placed next to the site of the World Trade Center in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It is produced annually by The Municipal Art Society of […]

Tribute in Light

Dadipark / Belgium

Here are the results of another location I explored with Fuerst earlier in 2012. Dadipark in the Belgian village of Dadizele opened already in 1949 and was supposedly one of the first of its kind in Europe. During its peak years it hosted up to 1 Mio visitors. The park featured more simple and child-friendly […]

Dadipark

Wheelchair Asylum / NY

Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, NY was founded in 1912 as the Farm Colony of Brooklyn State Hospital, with 32 patients, at Creedmoor (thus the name) by the Lunacy Commission of New York State, reflecting a trend towards sending the swelling population of urban psychiatric patients to the fresh air of outlying areas. By 1918, […]

Wheelchair Asylum

In 1896, Essex County officials designated 325 acres of land as the new location of the Essex County Asylum for the Insane. Located in what was then Verona and is now Cedar Grove, the facility housed mentally ill patients who required daily care. The site was selected due to its remote, high altitude location, which, […]

Essex County Hospital

This was totally „Old School“ I have to say, haha. As far as I could find out, the institution closed sometime in the late 1980s, which is admittedly already a good 20 years ago. Accordingly, the vandalization has reached quite extensive dimensions, unfortunately. However, the rooftop basketball court exhibits still a very cool and adequate […]

Old Primary School

Kindsbach Cave / Germany

During research for new targets I stumbled over some notes regarding a quite interesting underground facility, the now abandoned and below described Kindsbach Cave. It was fortunately not too difficult to get in contact with the owner, Wolfgang Wuermell, grandson of the original owner. He was very kind, gave us a little tour and even […]

Kindsbach Cave

Powerplant ECVB / Belgium

Earlier in 2012 I was on a little photo tour with Fuerst during which we also had the chance to visit one of the best known Urbex spots in Belgium or even Europe: the CEFB (i.e. Électriques des Flandres et du Brabant) Powerplant in the vicinity of Gent, or more famously known among the „crowd“ […]

Powerplant ECVB

In 1787, a group of well-known and powerful Philadelphians convened in the home of Benjamin Franklin. The members of The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons expressed growing concern with the conditions in American and European prisons. Dr. Benjamin Rush spoke on the Society’s goal, to see the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania set […]

Eastern State Penitentiary

The official website of VNV Nation describes them as follows: „Irish/English duo VNV Nation have persistently leaped from strength to strength, over the years, emerging as a powerhouse in the alternative electronic rock and industrial scenes. Their unique sound blends thematic lyrics and emotive vocals with influences from electronic music, indie, rock, dance music, classical […]

VNV Nation front

Harlem Valley State Hospital opened on April 24th, 1924 „for the care and treatment of the insane“ as part of an act to discontinue the farm and industrial prison at Wingdale. Buildings A, B and C had already been constructed and money was soon requested to buy adjoining farmland and buildings to build a root […]

The Last Bowl

Around 1900, the houses at 2-6 Market Street were put down in order to erect the building for the Royal Police Directorate between Friedrich Street and Mauer Street. The result was a four storey two-winged building with a corner tower. An annex for the prison and the necessary horse stables were built in the courtyard. […]

Detention cell

The Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) was a U.S. Navy jet engine testing facility for military aircraft from the mid-1950’s until the late 1990’s. As a result of the activities at the facility, trichloroethylene (which was used as coolant fluid), jet fuel, and other chemicals have leaked into the subsurface which resulted in some attention […]

Testing Cell Door

In the 1960s -just a couple of kilometers away from the Main Medical Depot Bunker– also a Main Hardware Depot Bunker (GerHDep) was dug into the mountainous flanks of the Wisper valley. The facility consists of rhombically built street and storage tunnels and galleries, which spread over a total length of over ten kilometers. The […]

Lorch GerDepot front

Watts Campbell Engine Co. was founded in 1851 and is located in Newark, New Jersey. It became a premier supplier of big steam engines and at its peak employed 300 people. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 13, 1986. The current owner, Charles (Chad) Watts, a 70++ year […]

Watts Campbell Engine Co.

After the dissolution of the medical supplies depot Wittlich/Germany in July 1975 the medical depot Lorch/Rheingau was set up. It had the task to store, maintain, deliver and dispose medical supplies for the Medical Service of the German Bundeswehr. In the 1960s, the days of the Cold War, they sought to protect such facilities against […]

Lorch San Bunker front

The Lansdowne Theater opened on June 1, 1927, featuring the silent film “Knockout Riley” starring Richard Dix. The opening event was overseen by John J. McGuirk, president of the Stanley Company, the predecessor of Warner Brothers. Mr. McGuirk described The Lansdowne as “the best example of suburban theatre construction around Philadelphia”. Adding to the excitement […]

Projector

Originally constructed in 1862 to hold Confederate prisoners of war, the Essex County Jail Annex functioned as a state penitentiary for many years before eventually being replaced by a new facility to alleviate overcrowding. The penitentiary was largely self-sufficient. As late as the 1970’s inmates still tended to apple and peach orchards on the grounds, […]

Essex County Jail Annex

The Ironworks, which cover some 6 ha, dominate the city of Völklingen in the German State of Saarland. Construction of the plant began in 1881, it went of production in 1986. It is the example in the whole of Western Europe and North America of an integrated ironworks that was built and equipped in the […]

Voelklingen Ironworks

The Melaten Cemetery is the central cemetery of the town of Cologne. The name „Melaten“ comes from the French word „malade“ which has the same meaning as the English „malady“. It’s history goes back to the 12th century when the area located an asylum for people suffering from leprosy, called „campus leprosi“…. Later, in the […]

Melaten Cemetery

Japan 2006

Back in March 2006, I visited Japan together with my friend Simone, who had been staying there for a language course, in order to discover a very strange -for me at first- country. Her vast experience and knowledge of land and culture naturally helped tremendously to discover and understand its very unique features and specialties.

Fujiyama

Ouvrage Hobling is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks and two observation blocks, and is located between gros ouvrage Michelsberg and petit ouvrage Bousse, facing Germany. It has been stripped of metals and abandoned. Hobling was approved for […]

PO Hobling

Ouvrage Michelsberg, one of the Maginot Line fortifications, formed part of the Fortified Sector of Boulay as well as the fortified region of Metz. The ouvrage is located in Moselle (département) between the towns of Dalstein and d’Ebersviller, about 23km from Thionville. It is located between gros ouvrage Mont des Welches and petit ouvrage Hobling, […]

Gros Ouvrage Michelsberg

This is actually one of my first Urban Exploring „harvests“. In 2007, The German Museum for Architecture used the old building as temporary home during some renovation work at the actual museum. During this short intermezzo the site was partially open to the public. The Detention was built in 1886 and throughout its history it […]

Offspring of Hope

The Hudson River State Hospital is a former New York state psychiatric hospital whose main building has been designated a National Historic Landmark due to its exemplary High Victorian Gothic architecture, the first use of that style for an American institutional building. The Hudson River Psychiatric Center, nearby, is a successor facility. Frederick Clarke Withers […]

Hudson River State Hospital

Papermill in York / PA

The Schmidt & Ault Paper Company occupies a historic site. At this place George King, an enterprising citizen of York began to manufacture high grade writing paper about 1810. The machinery was moved by water power, and the establishment was named The Codorus Paper Mills. In 1812, George King erected a large building and a […]

Papermill front

So here are the photos for the second site in Chatillon. This is the one which made Chatillon famous among the Urbex scene. Indeed, the round about 100 to 150 cars in various stages of decomposition offered a large resource of interesting shots.

Chatillon 2 front

The little village Chatillon in Southern Belgium is also one of the classical Urbex locations in Europe. When I was there in 2008 and 2009 two of the originally four car dumps were still present. The car bodies are mostly stemming from the 1950’s and 1960’s, put and left there as remainders from a close-by […]

Chatillon1 front

Kings Theatre / NY

The Kings Theatre, formerly Loew’s Kings Theatre, is a movie palace-type theater located in Brooklyn, New York City. Opened in 1929 and closed since 1977, the theater is scheduled to reopen in 2014 following a complete renovation. It was built and operated by the Loew’s Theatres chain, and was one of the five “Loew’s Wonder […]

Kings Theater

This opulent residence was built as a summer home for the family Liedekerke de Beaufort in 1866 by the English architect Milner, although he died before seeing its completion. The Château de Miranda, as it was called then, was owned and used by the family until 1958, except when it was briefly occupied by the […]

Chateau Noisy

Berlin / Germany

Berlin has round about 3,5 Mio citizens and is not only the capital but naturally also the biggest city of Germany, both in number of people and covered area. It is the only metropolitan city in Germany and has quite an eventful history. Parts of its history can be found everywhere throughout the vast city […]

Bernauer Strasse

It was just a total coincidence to find this jewel during a trip to Shikoku, one of the main islands of Japan. We drove up that hill in order to get a nice view over the ocean, and there it was…The tower was most likely used mainly for booked receptions and parties. At some point […]

Observation Tower

Ouvrage Denting is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line. The ouvrage consists of three infantry blocks, and is located between petits ouvrages Bovenberg and Village Coume, near the village of Denting in Moselle département, facing Germany. The position saw little action in World War II. The site was surveyed by CORF (Commission […]

PO Denting

Bethlehem Steel / PA

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation (1857–2003), based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S. steel industry and management problems leading to the company’s 2001 bankruptcy. In 2007, the Bethlehem property was sold to Sands BethWorks, and plans to build […]

IMG_1876 front

Kurhaus / Germany

This Spa Hotel in the Western part of Germany was built in 1914 and eventually abandonded in the mid of the 90’s. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of vandalism.

IMG_2679 front

This little series was done during a very cool concert of the Swedish Band Covenant in 2010 in Coney Island/New York City. It was a perfect opportunity to inaugurate my 50mm f1.2 lense…

IMG_0649 front

These are the results of a very interesting night photography workshop held by Lance Keimig. I have learned a lot and certainly a spark was lit in me. In the following, you will find an article I had written (in German language) for a blog (i.e. Der Schwarze Planet ) of a good friend of […]

IMG_2613 front

Grain Silo in Brooklyn / NY

The massive former Port Authority Grain Terminal was built in 1922 in Red Hook/Brooklyn and was once the processing center for grains used for breweries and distilleries shipped down from upstate New York and the western USA via the Erie Canal. The terminal closed as shipping in Red Hook gave way to New Jersey containerization […]

IMG_1965 front

Hospital Bunker / Germany

Im März 1941 wurde mit dem Bau dieses dreigeschossigen Bunkers im Park eines Krankenhauses einer Deutschen Stadt begonnen. Er wurde als Krankenhaus für 170 Betten eingerichtet. Der Bunker wurde während des Krieges entsprechend zum Teil als Lazarett und als Krankenhaus genutzt. Die ersten Patienten wurden im Juli 1943 in den Bunker verlegt. Am 22. Dezember […]

IMG_0139_PS front

Ossuary in Kutna Hora / Cz

The history of sacred facilities in Sedlec (in the neighborhood of today’s Kutna Hora in Bohemia, about 70 km south of Prague) goes back to the 10th Century. At the time of the plague in the 14th Century and during the Hussite Wars in the 15th Century more than 30,000 people were buried in the […]

IMG_2250 front

Fort Totten / NY

These pictures have been taken in Fort Totten, which is a former U.S Army installation near Bayside, Queens, New York. Originally it was built in 1862 and in 1954 extended as an air defense site with various military facilities, including a hospital, in which most of the photos in this series had been taken. The […]

IMG_9827 front

The Wave-Gotik Treffen (WGT) is the world’s largest festival for „dark culture“ held each Pentecost in Leipzig, Germany. About 20.000 – 25.000 visitors and more than 150 bands and artists attend the festival each year. During the 4 days (Friday – Monday) the whole city is populated by all kind of people connected to the […]

IMG_3004 front

The city of Mendig in Germany has northwest of the railroad station an area of about 0.3km² which is riddled with old cellars. This underground labyrinth was created by the quarring or mining of basalt. The basalt was used for millstones, which were exported and became the basis of the wealth of the city. They […]

Upstairs or Downstairs?
St. Nicholas Breaker

St. Nicholas Breaker / PA

The St. Nicholas Breaker was located between Mahanoy City and Shenandoah in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in the southern part of the Coal Region. The breaker was once the world’s largest coal breaker, being the size of a city block and capable of processing 12,500 tons of coal per day. It has been described as having […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
SS United States

SS United States in Philadelphia / PA

I first encountered this monumental ship about one year ago, while on the way to a food palor after another exploring trip to Philly. I thought I was dreaming. There she was, as if the Titanic never sank but put secretely asside to haunt the present, a modern „Elizabeth Dane“. Naturally, the beauty was behind […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Proctor's Theatre

Proctor’s Theatre in Newark / NJ

On November 22, 1915, Proctor’s Palace opened in downtown Newark. The Building was designed by architect John W. Merrow, the nephew of Proctor theatre circuit owner Frederick F. Proctor. The Palace was one of the rare double decker theatres, which meant that one auditorium was stacked on top of the other. The lower, street-level auditorium […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery / NY

Sleepy Hollow is a well known place, mainly due to the mysterious tale written down by Washington Irving. The little town close to Tarrytown in the State of New York has also one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the area, full of history and resting souls. The official website of the cemetery writes the […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Mezzanine in the Palace Theater

Loew’s Palace Theater Bridgeport / CT

In the heart of Bridgeport stands an abandoned 13-acre building complex that includes the Poli Palace, the Majestic Theater. The Loew’s Poli Theater was built by theater impresario Sylvester Poli as a vaudeville house, and opened for business on Sept. 4, 1922. Designed by Thomas W. Lamb in the Beaux Arts style, it featured vaulted […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Covenant live in New York 2012

Covenant in New York City / NY

Last August, I had the pleasure to attend my second Covenant concert in New York, in the Le Poison Rouge Club in Manhattan. After my so-so experience with photography permission during the VNV Nation concert earlier, I contacted the band via their Facebook page prior to the event and asked whether I could take some […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Tribute in Light

9-11 Tribute In Light 2012 in Downtown Manhattan / NY

The Tribute in Light is an art installation of 88 7,000-watt xenon searchlights positioned into two 48-foot squares that echo the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers placed next to the site of the World Trade Center in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It is produced annually by The Municipal Art Society of […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Dadipark

Dadipark / Belgium

Here are the results of another location I explored with Fuerst earlier in 2012. Dadipark in the Belgian village of Dadizele opened already in 1949 and was supposedly one of the first of its kind in Europe. During its peak years it hosted up to 1 Mio visitors. The park featured more simple and child-friendly […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Wheelchair Asylum

Wheelchair Asylum / NY

Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, NY was founded in 1912 as the Farm Colony of Brooklyn State Hospital, with 32 patients, at Creedmoor (thus the name) by the Lunacy Commission of New York State, reflecting a trend towards sending the swelling population of urban psychiatric patients to the fresh air of outlying areas. By 1918, […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
Essex County Hospital

Essex County Hospital / NJ

In 1896, Essex County officials designated 325 acres of land as the new location of the Essex County Asylum for the Insane. Located in what was then Verona and is now Cedar Grove, the facility housed mentally ill patients who required daily care. The site was selected due to its remote, high altitude location, which, […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →