Intermar

I recently went to Bad Malente in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany to spend a day swimming in one of the lakes and taking a few pictures. There is this 1970s concrete high-rise by the Dieksee that fascinated me. It used to be the Intermar Hotel and is long since defunct. Nobody really knows what to do with it, there have been attempts to sell the flats as luxuruy condos, there is a swimming pool on the ground floor but nothing really worked. I always liked the half-neglected state of this half-lost place.

So I went there and took a few pictures. Before long an angry guy came to me, asking what i was doing. I said I am taking a few pictures because I like the building. He said he is the owner and he wants me to piss off or he’d call the police. I just said that I was on public ground so his opinion might be interesting but not particularly relevant. He correctly pointed out that I was, in fact, not on public ground but on the driveway belonging to the Intermar and became quite aggressive. So, being me, instead of challenging him („sure… you *own* the entire Intermar…”, „yes, please *do* call the police…”) or changing the lense, taking too steps back and continue taking the same pictures from the public sideway, I, well, pissed off.

So far, so boring. Anyway, a few days later I came across a news item, saying that yet another investor for the Intermar went bankrupt and the future of the building is, once again uncertain. So, the guy might in fact have been the owner of the whole place, and not just a mere tenant. And understandably a bit on the edge of his nerves.

This is the only picture of note which I took on that day. What makes it for me is that one unidentifiable spooky light that shines through the bushes on the left hand side. And the sign saying „Quetschgefahr” ( „crushing hazard”). Plus I liked the curve of the orange concrete wall.