Vogelsang – Where the Soviets Kept the Missiles to Nuke the West

Hidden away in the Brandenburg forest north of Berlin is an abandoned complex with a sinister history, rooted in the soviet past

In fact the place used to be so secret, no locals were allowed near it, no one with any sense would speak of it, and no local East German officials were informed of its various Cold War activities.

Now of course, the dusty secrets of the old Soviet Union are accessible to anyone that takes an interest.

So what did go on here, so close to the Iron Curtains edge?

A frightening enough thought for this Western author, Vogelsang was where the Soviet Union once had atomic weapons primed for Western Europe.

This was the atomic front line of the Soviet Cold War effort, with missiles ready to launch in retaliation for a preemptive strike or in preemption of an imminent retaliation.

Now the whole site is abandoned of course, and is a favourite for urban exploration.

Like all good abandoned buildings, the site is extremely eerie, especially when you consider its dark yet relatively recent past.

Curtains remain, fluttering through broken school, shop, and barrack windows.

Giant bunkers on the garrison’s outskirts stand empty and desolate, doors creaking forlornly, their stash of deadly nukes gone and with it their raison d’être.

Germany would rather forget this ghost town ever existed, despite the remaining Soviet art, the murals, or Lenin’s statue.

These images by photographer and writer, Ciarán Fahey are an important record of the site, as workers have recently been contracted to raise it to the ground.

[Image Credits: Ciarán Fahey ‘Abandoned Berlin‘]