Lost Places: Gruß aus Döllersheim

Shortly after Germany had annexed Austria in 1938 plans were taken to create a huge military training ground for the Wehrmacht around Allentsteig. Since large parts of that area were still populated back then, thousands of people had to be evacuated while their villages got destroyed. The village of Döllersheim, however, partially defied its destruction during the Nazi era and managed to remain more or less untouched ever since. After the war the Austrian army refrained from using it as a combat training ground, which is why at some point it became accessible again and now borders the restricted military area in the middle of Austrian no man’s land. Due to its isolated location, everything you see there today is still completely free of any garbage or vandalism like graffiti. When walking the area, you can find almost entire buildings like the old hospital or the elementary school in their original shape. There are statues, cellars and other small details to be discovered everywhere. The graves at the village cemetery are mostly from the 19th century and full of historic writing and decoration. The arguably most impressive sight though is the big church on the hill which remained almost fully intact through all the decades apart from its missing historic roof. Even parts of its old interior still exist. Overall, this place had an absolutely unique aura to me and I have never seen anything like that before. I tried to capture a small part of Döllersheim in that short video clip and in some pictures I could take during my stay there.