After the Berlin wall was torn down in 1989 and German’s capital was reunited, the old metropolis quickly became a popular travel destination. For young Europeans the city also became a place to move in and to live in an artistic, liberal environment. Berlin has attracted business talent as well; today, it has the capital of startup companies in Germany.

When Germany was reunited 25 years ago, some places on the east side of the cold war border were left empty. People moved to the west side of the old border because that is where the jobs were. Ever since then, many towns in the former East Germany (DDR) have attracted urban explorers who have discovered exotic empty buildings and villages in there.

One of them is German Arno Specht who has traveled in former East Germany for almost ten years, and photographed in Berlin, Leipzing and Dresden, among other places. His photos are displayed on Deutsche Welle’s video below.

In Berlin empty buildings are primarily discovered on the east side of the city. Not all buildings are open for exploring and photographing, but tour guide Arnas Diemann knows the best places and organizes tours for explorers and photographers into the buildings.