Frozen In Time: Abandoned East German Ski Resort (Photo Essay)

By Ted Thornhill 

With old ski boots piled high on the floor; this was once a place full of fun and laughter.

But, 20 years after it was abandoned, the guests at this ski resort have been replaced with dust and mould.

Located in the mountainous Erzgebirge region of Saxony, Germany, this forgotten building was captured by German photographer Stefan Dietze, 31.

 

Snow joke: Old skis and ski boots lie abandoned inside Pension Sachsenruh Hotel, located in Saxony, Germany

Bleak: TVs lie forgotten inside the abandoned hotel

Grim: This photograph of a bedroom corridor could be a scene from a horror film and would be unrecognisable to the guests that once stayed here

‘I decided to visit the Pension Sachsenruh Hotel after I found an old postcard on the internet, and that piqued my interest,’ explains Stefan, of Leipzig, Germany.

 

‘The hotel looked very glamorous from the outside and I wanted to find out how much of that old glory was still left inside.

‘I started researching the building and discovered that during the summer people would arrive at the hotel, ready to enjoy hiking holidays and in the winter it was used by skiers.

Socialist heritage: The hotel was located in former East Germany and its once luxury looks have been replaced by peeling wallpaper and rotting wood

Haunting: Some parts of the hotel are still arranged as guests might have left them

Food for thought: The labels on the draws and cupboard give away that this is the hotel kitchen, with mehl meaning flour, salz translating as salt, starke as starch and zucker means sugar

Dangerous: Lots of foodstuffs still reside in the hotel, but probably aren't fit for consumption anymore

‘In one of the many adjoining buildings there was a big pile of skis and boots lying in piles on the floor.

‘This gave me the impression that a group had just returned from their cross country skiing trip and had hurried into the attached restaurant to warm up with a nice cup of tea.’

After being abandoned in 1992, this 20th century hotel is still home to old ski equipment, kitchen appliances and broken TVs, which have lain still for over 20 years.

Light fantastic: The sunlight beaming through this partially stain-glassed window serves to illuminate the dilapidated state of the hotel

Left to rot: The door in the foreground is labelled 'admission' and the sunlight being admitted through it into the corridor lights up the hotel's dirty interior

Stairway to heaven: You can imagine children gleefully running down these stairs, eager to reach the snowy slopes outside 

 

Mr Dietze said: ‘For GDR (Geman Democratic Republic) standards the place was very well equipped, with all the state of the art technology of the time.

‘I saw lots of old TVs, a huge kitchen and many well-spaced rooms.

‘Most people who see my photos are astonished by the fact that seemingly intact buildings are just left to rot and people always seem to wonder why these places couldn't have been saved.

 

‘Usually, people think my pictures are emotional and romantic, as they give most people the notion that everything is bound to end. 

‘When they look at my pictures they do see the beauty that was once there and how nature it slowly reconquering.’

For more of Stefan's urban exploring photographs visit facebook.com/urbexleipzig.