121/365: The Radomes

121/365: The Radomes, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 1st

And we're in Berlin! Courtesy of wonderful people who work with me I got to see the abandoned NSA listening station on top of the Teufelsberg. This impressive elevation (called the Devil's Hill) is nothing but a mound of 12 million cubic meters of WW2 rubble piled on the carcass of an abandoned Nazi military college, overgrown with forest, and the cherry on the top is the spy station which the Americans used to eavesdrop on the Russians East of the Wall. It has been abandoned since the end of the Cold War and has suffered much decay.

You're not supposed to go there, but the three fence perimeter can't really stop the curious, and the payback in adrenaline is immense. You just need to be very careful not to injure yourself on any of the damaged construction, slide off a ladder, get lost in the creepy basement or fall into the open elevator shaft at the top of the main radome tower. Keeping all that in mind it is well worth the climb as the echo in the main dome is so strong, even your own breath is reiterated.

An unbelievable place.

More photos in the Flickr Set.