Ballsaal Rot Weiss, Germany

Ballsaal Rot Weiss is an abandoned ballroom, located in East Germany. This location has been on my to-do list for some time; a true timeless classic. During the Easter GDR Tour (2018) we visited this location, in addition to several other fantastic East German ballrooms. A tour of many ballrooms, long days driving and little sleep

A familiar story – An abandoned east germany ballroom with scarce history

Abandoned ballrooms litter the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Every town seems to have had one. Evidently a key part of the community, ballrooms were a place to meet and to be seen. These entertainment venues were popular right up until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Subsequently, they began to fall out of fashion in the newly reunified Germany. One by one they began to close. While some were renovated, others were demolished. Some, such as Ballsaal Rot Weiss, appear to have simply been left to decay. Empty and forgotten the ballroom decays, year after year.

Any specific history about this location seems to escape me at the moment. Most of these ballrooms do not have much history readily available online.

Ballsaal Rot Weiss – The Candy Cane Ballroom

Clearly the most striking feature of Ballsaal Rot Weiss is the red ceiling. Two concave strips run along the ceiling, parallel to the long axis of the room. These strips are stripped red and white, like a candy cane. There are two black chandeliers which hang from the ceiling. The floor is rotten and is collapsing in places. The roof above the stage has collapsed, and the stage boards are rotten. Ferns and moss grown in a thick carpet on the stage. I think my favourite shot from here was standing on the stage, shooting with the fern-covered stage in the foreground. Well worth the slightly precarious trek across the splintering stage boards.