Heilstätte Grabowsee: An abandoned Film Location
I have to admit that I never heard of the abandoned Sanatoriums named "Heilstätte Grabowsee" before I saw the horror film „Heilstätten“ (which means „Sanatoriums“ in English). It’s a German horror movie that follows a well known plot but ends with an unexpected twist.
What's so interesting is, that the film is actually set to play at the abandoned Beelitz Sanatoriums that I already photographed a few times in the past.
While I watched the film, I couldn't recognise anything from my past trips to Beelitz. So I did some research and found that the film was shot at the Heilstätte Grabowsee, near Berlin, Germany. Allegedly, because at the same time the film „A cure for wellness“ was filmed in Beelitz.
So I tried to get a photo permit for the abandoned Heilstätte Grabowsee and I was lucky. As Berlin is just a one hour flight from Vienna, I unceremoniously packed my carry-on compliant backpack and flew to Berlin.
In order to get attuned, here's a spooky video about what to expect if you explore a lost place ony your own.
Heilstätten Grabowsee: Know before you go
Just like Beelitz Heilstätten, the Heilstätte Grabowsee is a private property and fenced in with a guard on duty. And you'll definitely need a car to go there.
The area consists of 15+ buildings. The majority of them are located around a small square. Though many buildings look quite okay from the outside, you’ll see lots of collapsed roofs and floors inside. So watch your step and avoid wooden floors!
As always, I recommend to have a good flashlight at hand when you explore such places. I use two different Olight flashlights; especially because I can charge them without disassembly and they both can be charged using a power bank.
Iconic photo spots at Grabowsee: The red sofa & grand piano
There's one iconic shot that always popped up during my research about Grabowsee: The red sofa. I couldn’t find any hint about the “why’s and what’s” about it, but it’s a truly great photo spot.
The red sofa at the abandoned Heilstätten Grabowsee
A little photography tip here: many photos I've seen of this red sofa were shot frontally. Try a different perspective! Though there's not much room in there, I'll bet you can find other perspectives. Another hint: Take a step back!
This one is also a quite iconic photo spot at the Heilstaten Grabowsee. If you do an image search for „piano heilstaetten grabowsee“, you’ll see how others took this photo.
I opted not to take a photo using the same perspective as everyone else. I left the building, walked around it and saw this view and used the photo framing technique to compose it.
Grand Piano at Heilstätten Grabowsee
The photo above is a 32 megapixel photo! See how you can take 32 megapixel photos with iPhone using Hydra Camera App.
Filming Location Heilstätten Grabowsee
The film ”Heilstätten” was filmed at several locations here. One of them is the old goods elevator that you'll see right at the beginning of the film when the teens enter the area.
The goods elevator from the German horror film “Heilstätten”
To be able to capture the entire elevator despite the limited space there, I used the Moment Fisheye Lens and fixed the perspective distortion.
Here's the complete movie trailer of the Horror movie that was filmed here (in German). You can see the elevator briefly at 0:33 and at 1:08. If you're curious, you can watch Hautend Hospital - Heilstätten on Apple TV.
Looks like, they also used a fisheye-like lens?
More photos taken inside the abandoned Heilstätte Grabowsee
The following photo was quite challenging because I tried to capture two hallways that were in a 90 degree angle to each other. The Moment Superfish Lens was also helpful for this scene.
Hallway shot on Moment Superfish
It seems that they already had hallway beds in this hospital decades ago. Or maybe this is a film prop from one of the movies that were shot here?
Hallway bed
Book your Heilstätten Grabowsee Photo Tour
As I mentioned at the beginning, the area is fenced and there’s a guard on duty. While I got my photo permit directly, there's now another way. And that is to book a Photo Tour at Grabowsee from Fototouren-Berlin.de
More lost places near Berlin
There are quite a number of lost places in and near Berlin. Check out the abandoned echelon surveillance station or the Beelitz Heilstätten. But better hurry with Beelitz. Everything there is being renovated and sold, except for a few buildings that you can see from the Beelitz Canopy walk.
