Eerie reason you would never want to live here
In a small town north of Berlin sits a home with a past so dark and evil, nobody wants to live here – even for free.
In an idyllic little town north of Berlin sits a gigantic holiday villa nobody wants.
With its majestic gardens and vast interiors, it might be hard to fathom how this countryside retreat has sat eerily vacant for the past 24 years.
The German government has tirelessly attempted to sell the 1600 sqm villa for over two decades but has now resorted to the only possible solution: they are giving it away for free.
Yet, months on, the structure available for the taking remains uninhabited.
But why?
Well, it might have something to do with the fact that the property was built in 1939 as a holiday home for infamous Nazi Josef Goebbels, who worked as the minister of propaganda under Hitler’s Nazi regime during World War II.
Goebbels was a radical anti-Semite and was the mastermind behind the Third Reich’s propaganda machine that allowed them to execute their murderous agenda.
During the war, he frequently occupied the property, known as Villa Bogensee, and used it as a base to entertain family and socialise with political connections.
It has also been reported that he used it as a “love den” to spend time with his mistress.
The unimaginable evil surrounding Goebbels is embedded heavily in the walls of Villa Bogensee, with seemingly nobody wanting to inherit such a symbol of darkness.
Another layer that may deter potential new inhabitants is the hefty costs needed to upkeep the 85-year-old mansion.
Maintenance of Villa Bogensee costs around AUD$464,000 (€280,000) a year to stop it falling into shambles, according to the Buildings Department.
“I am offering anyone who would like to take over the site to take it over as a gift from the state of Berlin,” the state’s finance minister, Stefan Evers, told parliament back in May.
“If we fail again, as in the past decades, then Berlin has no other option but to carry out the demolition that we have already prepared for.”
Berlin has repeatedly tried to give the villa to federal authorities or to the state of Brandenburg, where the villa is located, instead of continuing to pay for maintenance and security at the property, which has become overgrown and fallen into disrepair.
According to local reports, there had been inquiries from a dermatologist who longed to open a skin care centre and from a few other bargain hunters, however, none were deemed suitable.
Earlier interest from an extreme-right group known as the Reichsbürger movement embodied the government’s worst fears.
The group rejects the modern Federal Republic of Germany, denying its legality and legitimacy and rejects the authority of the country’s federal, state and local governments.
The Reichsbürger espouses conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism, and racism and has even been described as “neo-Nazi in character”.
However, The Economist reported in 2016 that the movement’s members “draw ridicule even from neo-Nazis”.
There is a real fear that the estate’s association with its Nazi past might attract unsavoury takers. Hence, there is still a stringent selection process in place.
“The history of the place is precisely the reason why Berlin would never hand this building over to private hands where there would be a risk that it could be misused,” Mr. Evers told the New York Times.
The future of the villa presents an issue that Germany has been tackling since the war about whether to persevere or obliterate former Nazi sites.
Hitler’s birthplace in Braunau, Austria, is set to become a police station, which is what Germany did with his old apartment in Berlin.
After the war, Goebbels’ Villa was briefly used as a hospital before being taken over by the youth wing of the East German Communist Party, who built a training centre and several large accommodation blocks.
Following German reunification in 1990, ownership of the site was returned to the state of Berlin, however the city found no use for it.
The Villa has since become an attraction of day trippers and urban explorers, who pick their way through the overgrown grounds and look through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
As the war drew to a close and Nazi Germany faced defeat, Goebbels moved back to Berlin with his wife Magda and their six children.
On April 22, 1945, the family moved into a part of Hilter’s underground bunker complex before Hitler took his own life on April 30.
In accordance with his ruler’s will, Goebbels succeeded him as Chancellor of Germany, but only served one day at this post.
The following day, on May 1, 1945, Goebbels and his wife took their own lives, after having poisoned their six children with cyanide capsules.
The family’s luxury Berlin home was sold at auction in 2011.
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