Abandoned Pankow-Heinersdorf Roundhouse

Ever since I started investing more into this blog after moving to Russia I've "met" some really cool bloggers. One of them is Cheryl Howard. When I knew I was going to Berlin I messaged her and I asked her about places to stay in Germany. At some point she offered to meet up and asked me what I would like to see. She gave me a couple of abandoned options and I chose the Pankow-Heinersdorf Roundhouse. After a morning of breakfast and cemetery walking I managed to get navigate the Berlin metro all by myself and made it to the station. Without a working cell phone I only hoped I was at the right place and that Cheryl and Elizabeth (who I also invited) would be able to find me.

If you search the name you'll find tons of blog posts about this place. The Berlin-Stettin train yard grounds were built in 1843 and almost 50 years later the roundhouse was constructed on the property in 1893 to service trains. The grounds were in service until 1997 when it was closed because roundhouses just aren't that necessary with the newer diesel and electric locomotives that require less maintenance. This roundhouse is one of two that still exists in Germany. In the 2000s it was reported a property investor bought the area to build a shopping center, but as of 2018 nothing had been built.

Unfortunately for us, the entire area was surrounded by an electric fence and barbed wire. We tried walking around to the back area where more abandoned buildings were but we had no luck. We even contemplated jumping the fence and risking electric shock, but none of us had the balls nor wanted to be arrested for something as stupid as jumping a fence (or also not knowing if we'd be able to make it back over). Fortunately, though, the roundhouse can be viewed right when you exit the S-train at Pankow-Heinersdorf station. When you exit to the street you get a nice bridge view of the roundhouse as well. Even though we couldn't go into the station it was still close enough where we could get some great photos. If you're interested in seeing photos of the train yard before it closed down this blog is great!