Spring has come, and with it the time to leave the house and explore the world around us. Last year I was in Glasgow, which is filled with hidden gems for those of us who want to see what lies underneath, what is hidden in our cities behind those "keep out" and "Danger" signs. This year I am in Luxembourg. I lived here for 18 years before and now I am back, but I have never given it the full-on exploration treatment.
At first sight Luxembourg city looks way too clean cut to be explorable. It doesn't appear to have abandoned and derelict structures left and right like Glasgow does. It is all very rich and well maintained. And if anything looks interesting it is guaranteed to have a concrete wall of steel door blocking the way. So at first I thought I'd have to go well out of my way to find worthy sites for this blog.
But as it turns out I found a massive abandoned building in a large patch of land very neat the center of the city. Very central yet not easily seen. Its hidden by thick brush and tress as well as the local buildings. Yet a few weeks ago I saw it. I'd been around there so often yet never paid attention to it. Ever since I started this blog I've become more observant of my surroundings. I saw crumbling walls behind a layer of trees and that moment I knew; I have to get it. So yesterday I returned...
I had been out late the night before and woke up feeling a little (read very) rough so I had breakfast and then slept some more. Yet later in the day I could not ignore the shining sun outside. A more frequent sight these days at last. I packed my backpack with the essentials, head-torch Swiss Army Knife and my camera. Soon I was on my way.
I took a detour to enjoy the Saturday atmosphere. People sunbathing in the parks and, kids playing and adults frantically shopping. After a long hour I reached the target site. I walked to the fence, I had previously spotted a couple of good entry points. This site is unusually unprotected, very easy to get in.
There is a sign.
This is french for GTFO ("Do not enter the site")
There is also a padlock. I don't know any lock-picking so will have to move on.
Now that says "Do not enter the site EXCLAMATION MARK" in both French and German. We got a good mix of languages going on in Luxembourg.
That's whats on the other side of the fence. Looks intriguing I say. Let us go in I say.
Zooming on the actual structure.
Here's the entry point. No need to pick locks.
I am in. You wouldn't think it but I'm not in the middle of nowhere, I'm almost as central as you can get within the city of Luxembourg. There are several restaurant,s pubs and clubs not 2 minutes walk from here. Lots of green spaces in Luxembourg city, so much so that this site can easily go unnoticed.
There was a roof, once.
The side of the house. If it was a house it was massive. Might have even been a hospital/mental asylum. Somehow derelict places tend to be one of the two. Add to the ghost story vibe too.
There is some construction work going on by the building. I think its inactive though.
Between the building and the construction site is an entrance. And there is no blast door or concrete wall. So very odd. Must go in.
And I'm in. Does it not look inviting?
The tunnel is slowly crumbling down, there are many bricks and stones lying on the way and massive gaps on the wall and ceiling. See above for example.
Crossing the tunnel. Place looks creepy as hell. Its good that I can hear kids playing in the distance, an ominous silence would let my imagination loose in a place like this.
Good old case of nature reclaiming what is hers. Go Earth!
Only the walls remain. This place must have been abandoned long enough for most of the wood to collapse and decay. No signs of a fire either.
A door from nature to nature.
The boarded up door is distinctly creepy. Was there something they wanted to keep in, or out?
This door is from where I emerged.
The next room is practically a forest. When we are all gone the earth will reclaim our cities like so until her growths and our constructions become seamless. Like they were always meant to be this way and we only got to briefly use them for our purposes.
A few remaining boards on the second floor.
Moving forward in room.
Windows, and trees.
An odd detail on one of the beams. These small wooden bits are nailed there but do not seem to have an obvious purpose.
The moment I notice there is a cellar below me and feel very unsafe. Might the floor come off under me. But then again these trees are rooting there somehow.
The next room has a slightly more complete second floor. Courtesy of that metal pole holding things together.
I find that the pole and its environment make for a good photo subject.
The next room is boarded up, it is also blocked by a lot of furniture. It seems unstable. Since I am alone I shall not take unnecessary risks (Don't ask why I am in a crumbling structure to begin with, that is a necessary risk)
More windows and plants. Greenery prevail!
Marks on a beam. What creature did these?
More of the pole holding the ceiling. I Still will not be going up there though.
In this picture you can appreciate a little more the size of the building as well as the level of ruin and overgrowth.
Big X on the window.
I venture into an inner corridor of the building. One end is blocked. Suddenly I hear a sound behind me, I turn around and practically have a heart attack. Its OK, just a black cat hanging out. Still take a while to recover.
A patio on the other side.
Some cool arches.
A way down.
Someone wrote Bob on the stone. Who is Bob? Is Bob still around? I hope not.
See more of the building.
There is a wooden wall on this side, I think it actually leads to someones private garden. The flag is the official Luxembourguish flag. There a much cooler looking unofficial one with a red lion on it.
A BBQ and a TV.
A whole lot of rubbish. Is this the neighborhood dumping grounds?
So here we got one of those "keep out!" signs, a chandelier, a crate of beer, a box of Porto and something that says adult on it. Good times.
The building seen from the inner patio.
A piece up string photographed using the macro focus option in my camera just because I can.
A couple of old school jugs, probably used for wine.
Chimney
More of those cool arches.
This is the same room from before that was full of furniture and what not.
What have we here, a cellar!
It is open and I can go down but I back out because I am a coward and don't feel like dying crushed by a pile of rubble. Might go back one day though. Maybe with some backup.
A glimpse into the normal neighborhood outside.
These planks are covering a hole that must go to the cellar.
I re enter the building and find a new room. A room with pipes and a big stone sink.
This is bobs room. Not sure what the point of those wooden scaffolds is. Its dark and Bob might be in so I choose to stay out.
More of our friend Bob.
Back outside, quite a relief. Going in was very worth it though. Now I will explore a little on the outside of the building.
Nested windows.
A pool/pond though its not apparent in the photograph.
A whole other building, this one is boarded up properly though.
Time to go, a couple more shots of the ruin in the distance.
This was a very good start for Luxembourg, did not think I would find something so vast so easily. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I I enjoyed exploring this ruin. I am glad I waited for spring to come, it would not look as interesting without all the foliage.
For those of you interested this ruined site is in Clausen. Very close to a big club area and a bunch of pubs. Why its just sitting there decaying is beyond me, looks like prime real estate. Not complaining though. Maybe its just there to reminds us of the inevitable future for all man made constructions.
I got another set of photos for a different location in Luxembourg. It will be published soon.
Peace,
and never stop exploring (I know, the North Face brand says that but I agree with the statement).
