The beauty of abandoned buildings

Gerhard Krönes is a professor of business administration at Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences (RWU). The fact that, beyond research and teaching in his field, he is also enthusiastic about photography and the exploration of forgotten places is now evidenced by an exhibition of his pictures in the foyer of RWU's main building.

Sitting across from Gerhard Krönes, wearing a suit and colored shirt, he doesn't necessarily look at first glance like you would imagine an Urban Explorer or Urbex for short. They explore vacant buildings, boarded-up rooms, catacombs and rooftops, not infrequently also industrial ruins or sewers. In conversation, however, it quickly becomes clear that the Urbex virus has taken hold of Gerhard Krönes.

It was in 2016 when, on a bicycle tour through Upper Lusatia, he saw the empty factories of the once flourishing textile industry but was unable to enter them. Back home, he followed up and came across a provider of photo tours. That's how he ended up at the Heilstätten Beelitz south of Potsdam, the now landmarked "workers' lung sanatoriums" from the early 20th century. That was the beginning.

"You still have to see the structural beauty".

But in Germany, access to such old buildings is usually not possible. Through the pictures of photographer Sven Fennema, Krönes came up with the idea of going on a search in Italy. Then, in 2017, the first expedition beyond the Alps took place. "We discovered a lot," Krönes recounts enthusiastically. "Many objects seem closed, but then some door is open." More trips will follow in the following years. Of his discoveries, he does not want to single out any as the most special. Instead, he says, it's the ever-new excitement. "You never know if you're going to get in, what it's like, if it's going to be worth it."

Part of the fascination also seems to come from the search and preparation. Krönes meticulously plans his trips. He once got onto the trail of a building because he spotted a craftsman's sign in a photo on the Internet. By locating this craftsman's business, he was able to narrow down the radius in which the object he was looking for must be located.

Besides being orphaned what criteria does an object have to meet to be interesting? "I don't want to photograph junk," Krönes says. "You still have to see the structural beauty." So it's mainly 19th-century mansions, castles, monasteries or churches that end up in front of Krönes' lens. You can still see the elaborate constructions of staircases, wall paneling, stucco ceilings, magnificent halls, noble bathrooms or large window fronts in now hopelessly overgrown gardens. Treasures in decline.

The exhibition "Lost Places" with 13 photographs by Gerhard Krönes is now on display in the foyer of the main building of the RWU.