Waldhaus

Buch, Berlin, 2021.

It's incredible how a former tuberculosis sanatorium can have such a poetic vibe.

I researched and found the place back in the Summer of 2021. It was sunny and hot and the vegetation surrounding the building was so tall that it was difficult to walk.

But I managed to find a way in, which was nothing more than a hole in the door. I have to admit it, they did a great job walling up doors and windows.

Inside, only one room was lit and accessible, natural light coming from the sun through the open -and broken- windows.

The only noises I could hear were the sound of the broken glass under my shoes at every step, and the chirping of birds outside, mixed with the singing of crickets.

A light breeze was coming in from outside.

The sense of calm in that moment was so intense that time seemed to stand still.

And the I saw it.

That face.

The clown face.

Looking at me from the opposite wall.

I don't know if it was the breeze, the light, the face itself or me..but the whole scene gave me a sense of inner peace that I still can recall years after the exploration.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever taken out of all the explorations I have done, and I really hope it can give people that sense of peace, beauty and stilness that I found there.

I called it "Send in the Clowns" like the Frank Sinatra's song, as the face immediately reminded me of Joker, who is technically a clown..and the song is of course also featured in the movie "Joker" (2019). Plus, the open windows seemed to me like an invitation, precisely to let the clowns in. The song itself, maybe sad and dramatic, but slow and quiet as well, also give the vibe of what I experienced.

You can find and buy "Send in the Clowns" here.

The story

..which is way more sad and tragic than my experience.

Waldhaus was built in 1903 in Buch, outside the city center of Berlin, in order to be far from the pollution of the city.

It was operating as a tuberculosis hospital till the war and officially became a military hospital in 1942.

People say that already in 1940, some of the patients were transported in other hospitals where Nazi's euthanasia programs were taking place.

Other patients were killed to make room for wounded soldiers, who were considered far more precious during war time, compared to people with tuberculosis and other diseases. The sanatorium also took in brains of Nazi's victims from other hospitals, in order to study them.

After the war, the sanatorium became an orthopedic hospital but in the following years the decline began, until it was closed down completely in 1992.

As for today, they will probably tear down the whole building and build a medical research centre and a residential district.

And this is how life goes on: destroying something old in order to make room for something new.

Fancy flats materialize while clowns disappear.