The other day, I went for a walk in the German state of Thuringia, not looking for anything specific, except to get away from work for a day.
When I was already completely lost, I spotted a little house in the forest.
Although I should have been warned by the gruesome tale of Hänsel and Gretel, curiosity got the better of me.
I approached carefully and silently, so as not to alert anybody. But soon after sneaking through the old gate, all the carefulness was for nothing, as I couldn’t hold back from a loud and heartfelt “Whoah!!” But it didn’t matter, for nobody was alive anymore.
I had stumbled upon the lost village of Tannenfeld.
It used to be a castle, and was later expanded into a sanatorium for people with addiction and other psychological issues. Once of the patients was Rudolf Ditzen, probably better known under his pseudonym Hans Fallada. He had to come here a few times, and in between he took up a job on a farm estate in nearby Polsterstein, which you can see from the clinic.
Actually, Tannenfeld is no longer completely a lost place. It’s officially open to the public, and they sometimes have events in the wonderful park. But as I was there in the middle of the week, I had the whole place to myself.
Those medical institutions from the turn of the 19th and 20th century are often quite fabulous places. Their generous park-like spaces are impressive enough, but even more so if you compare them with the squalid conditions that most people lived in at the time. And in many of these sanatoria, you can wander around freely, without a doctor committing you to the institution. Some more recommendations: The clinic in Berlin-Wuhlgarten. The institutions for the blind in Chemnitz. And of course Otto Wagner Hospital in Vienna.
Brilliant! Let‘s move in!!
The investors who bought the estate actually wanted to turn it into a nursing home for dementia patients.
Maybe we could fake that. ;-)
But it didn’t look like the plans were going anywhere at the moment.
Hallo Andreas,
You might enjoy the book ‘Verschluckte Staedte’ by Klaus Kuenzel, maybe something for winter days.
Hello from Sweden – another Andreas
There’s something to be said for being lost
Ever since the introduction of the “Deutschlandticket”, which covers all the local trains, buses and other transport everywhere in Germany for a flat monthly fee (currently 63 €), I am no longer even worried about getting lost in this country.
I know that towards the end of the day, I just need to find the nearest bus stop or train station, and then I’ll get home somehow.
It’s very relaxing.
Yes, that ticket is remarkable. The next time I visit Germany for more than a week I’ll get one.
I know that if they ever cancel it, not having used it enough will be the biggest regret of my life.
Letting out a loud “Whoah!!” into an empty forest and then realising there was nobody left to hear it — that image will stay with me all day. And the Hänsel and Gretel warning you cheerfully ignored made me laugh right before the sanatorium history landed. Finding the Fallada connection in a place you only reached by being thoroughly lost is the sort of thing no itinerary ever produces.
It turned out that I approached the whole estate from the back, across the fields.
Thus, I only saw the sign with some explanations (including the Fallada connection) at the very end of my excursion when I exited through what is actually the entrance. (And then I also read that one should stay on the paths and not walk through the grass. Oops.)
Hi Andreas! I am enjoying your blog! The Deutschlandticket is excellent – I managed to traverse the country from Eisenhuttenstadt all the way across to Darmstadt within a day back in July. I wrote about it here (and included a link to your blog). :) https://financialindependenceireland.wordpress.com/2026/07/29/solo-travel-exploring-former-east-germany-and-some-of-the-west/