The Beelitz-Heilstätten are about 30 minutes southwest of Berlin, between Fichtenwalde and Beelitz, in the middle of the Beelitzer Stadtwald. The approximately 200-acre facility is divided into 4 areas: The former lung sanatorium for women and men lying north of the railway line and the areas of the old women’s and men’s sanatoria lying south of the railway line.

The Beelitz sanatoriums were built between 1898 and 1930 by the Berliner Landesversicherungsanstalt as tuberculosis sanatorium for workers. After the military served as a military hospital and sanatorium in the First and Second World War, the sanatoriums were taken over by the Soviet Army in 1945 and until 1994 were the largest military hospital outside the Soviet Union.

The photographs were taken in October 2009 on the grounds of the former Women’s and Lung Cancer Center (Spot).