djamilaknopf

Lost Places Part I

Added 2025-07-02 09:15:06 +0000 UTC

Hello friends,

hope you're doing well! We're currently sweating through the hottest day in ages (38°C or 100°F) and I’m doing my best to keep the hot air out and hide indoors until the sun sets. If you're wondering why I’m being so dramatic about the heat: in Germany, most apartments don’t have air conditioning, so we all collectively suffer through summer.

Before this heatwave hit, we had a stretch of more manageable summer days, and my friend and fellow artist Lorena (@amaretta_) came to visit. One of the things on our list was exploring some of Leipzig’s lost places. These abandoned spots are slowly disappearing—either renovated or demolished—but a few still remain, and they’re absolutely worth seeing.

The first place we checked out was the old printing machine factory ("Druckmaschinenfabrik") in Plagwitz. Built in the late 1800s, it grew into a major industrial site before becoming state-run during East Germany’s time. Like many factories, it shut down after reunification in the early ’90s when it couldn’t keep up with the changing economy. Today, it stands abandoned and more beautiful than ever. The red-brick, neo-Gothic architecture, the decaying walls, graffiti, and overgrown halls give it this post-apocalyptic vibe, like something out of The Last of Us. And if you’re lucky enough to visit on a quiet day, with birds singing and sunlight pouring in, it feels like a massive greenhouse.

In part II, I will introduce another place.

photo by @amaretta_