The building was constructed as a factory of the ‘Presto-Werke Günther & Co’ in 1897. The corporation had been founded in the same year by Georg Günther in Tharandt where also the first plant was situated. They were specialized on bicycle production, but later also produced motors and cars. The factory in Chemnitz was bought in 1936 by the ‘Auto-Union AG Chemnitz’ and became their headquarters. After the 2nd world war, the factory was turned into a hospital by the order of the Soviet military command. The big factory halls were split up and rooms were constructed inside of them to fulfil all functions of a hospital, like patient rooms and operating theaters. The name of the building was changed to ‘Berzirkskrankenhaus’ at the same time.
It originally had a capacity of 800 beds, but this was decreased over the years to ensure higher standards. The hospital was specialized on the treatment of STDs, skin diseases but also internal medicine and blood diseases. Even after the end of the GDR it remained in operation, although the whole equipment and building was pretty much run down. Especially the sanitary facilities were more than obsolete. The hospital moved out in 1997 to a new modern building with higher standards. The building remained unused till 2014 when Lars Faßmann bought the complex. He had plans to turn it back into a factory and renovation started soon after, but was abandoned in the middle of the process. In the pictures you can see their progress with some rooms still in place and other floors completely empty. In some parts, you don’t have a chance to guess that this once was a hospital.
Our location rating: