One Of The World’s Spookiest Abandoned Places Burned To The Ground This Weekend

Earlier this year we informed you that Spreepark, an abandoned amusement park built by The Communist East German Government that was also used as a cocaine-smuggling front and a set for movies like Hanna, was for sale on eBay. Unfortunately for any Scooby Doo villains in need of a lair, Gizmodo reports that the historic park was burned to the ground this weekend by two separate fires. Police suspect arson, but that’s probably because “portal to Hell opened up under ferris wheel” was just too much paperwork.

Spreepark’s selling price was listed as $1.62 million euros. The Berlin government purchased the land in March from Norbert Witte, a former park-runner whose colorful career came to a close when he and his son were caught smuggling 400 pounds of cocaine in a ride called the Flying Carpet. There’s no word yet on how much (if any) of Spreepark’s bizarre ruins remain, but as you can see from this photo set, the fairground definitely had a strange, haunted beauty.  If you’re as intrigued as I am by the park’s history and fittingly crazy end, Quartz has written the ruins a beautiful elegy.

(images via Chris Grabert on Flickr)

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