By Rebecca Drew
HAUNTING images show the rusting remains of what could be the most stunning abandoned coal power plant that fell victim to the collapse of the Communist Bloc.
The series of eerie photographs of the industrial complex which has been derelict for 23-years, show a series of metal stairs leading up to different levels in the vast factory, rusted machines and furnaces where thousands of tons of coal was burnt daily.
Other pictures show a washroom that was once used by the workers, an office with empty bottles strewn across a desk and a flaking control room situated in the plant’s basement.
The stunning shots were taken at an abandoned coal power plant in eastern Germany by engineer, Hagen Grüttner (36) from Chemnitz, Germany. To take his pictures, Hagen used a Canon 600D camera.
“You can see an abandoned coal power plant that was built 1937,” said Hagen.
“After World War Two, some parts were dismounted because of reparations by the soviets, in the early fifties the plant was rebuilt completely and was expanded.
“The peak power was around three-hundred-and-eighty megawatts and it burned over six-hundred-tons of coal in an hour, storing more than twenty-five-thousand-tons of it.
“I simply love abandoned places, how they smell, feel and the special mood in there and there’s also a thrill to go in and out without being seen, you never know what you will find behind the next door.”
The coal power plant closed after many years of operation in 1994, just a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which symbolised the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe.
Hagen who has enjoyed visiting abandoned places since he was a teenager, says that people can’t believe what is left behind in abandoned places and says that he respects the buildings at all times.
“You need to be able to find an entry without destroying anything or breaking in which is something I’m always careful about. You also need some luck from time to time,” added Hagen.
“Most people are fascinated and ask how this can be and why people leave behind all that stuff, which in some cases is very personal.
“This is a question that I often have in my mind too but there is no complete answer in most cases.”
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