Abandoned & Forgotten: Remnants of Human Civilization

[Desert Fox]

Whenever most of us hear the term "ghost town" we are instantly reminded of old decaying ruins in the American Wild West. Remnants of once bustling mining towns and trading centers sprawling with human life where once upon a time people went about their lives as if they had no concern for what tomorrow might bring them. From the iconic saloons and taverns where bar fights and shootouts were a common place, to the town squares where farmers and traders exchanged goods, to the good ol' town sheriff's headquarters. All that remains today are the dusty, rickety old structures and the cemeteries of the once inhabitants of these now desolate places.

Of course, this isn't a strange phenomena, rather history only repeating itself. What were once sprawling capital cities of powerful empires and kingdoms thousands of years ago are now empty tourist attractions in this day and age, reminders of the grandeur of civilizations of the past. But why were they abandoned? What happened to the original inhabitants? Were they afflicted by a terrible calamity? An invasion? These are all familiar questions. But one need not look too far into history to find the answers. Today, these abandoned cities and towns serve as reminders to the rest of humanity of the possible fate of our modern bustling metropolises. Could it be that within a year, month, week, or even a day from now we too would face a similar fate? And that hundreds, perhaps thousands of years from now what survives of humanity will observe the ruins of our cities and monuments and ask the same questions we ask now?

To attain a better understanding of the events which led to the desolation of the ancient cities of the past and the ghost towns of the not-so-distant past, let us look at recent history of the past century or so which has witnessed the recurrence of this phenomena on multiple occasions:

Ghost Island

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"Gunkanjima is a small island located about 20 kilometers from Nagasaki Port. Until 1974, the island served as a coal mine, and more than 5000 residents called the 480 meter long, 150 meter wide island home, resulting in the highest population density in history recorded worldwide.

To accommodate so many people in such a small area, every piece of land was built up so that the island came to resemble a massive battleship. In fact, "Gunkanjima" is a nickname that means "battleship island" in Japanese. The island's formal name is Hashima.

In April 1974, the mine was closed, and its residents had to leave Gunkanjima, abandoning the island with all its buildings. Over the years since then, direct exposure totyphoonshas caused the residences and mining facilities to deteriorate, giving the island an eerie and haunting atmosphere. Due to the danger of collapsing structures, Gunkanjima was closed to the public, and for many years could only be seen from sightseeing cruises that circled the island."

To read more about the history of Gunkanjima Island visit:

Nagasaki Travel: Gunkanjima (Battleship Island)

CABINET // Hashima: The Ghost Island

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More pictures of the Island can be viewed here: www.hashima-island.com​

 

[Skull and Bones]

I guess Skyfall was filmed in this island?

 

[rockstar08]

seems interesting place to visit

 

[Desert Fox]

More For Ghost Island (AKA Hashima Island, Gunkanjima Island):

Imagine this TV set mysteriously turns on lol. Now that'd be freakishly creepy.

More pictures of the Island can be viewed here: www.hashima-island.com​

 

[Jungibaaz]

That's astounding, like one of those places you'd stay overnight for a stupid dare.

I would love to visit it. Photographer's dream.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

You should look into this series
Life After People - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What happens to the world if in an instant every person on the planet vanished.

 

[Jungibaaz]

You should look into this series
Life After People - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great series, really entertaining.

 

[Desert Fox]

Pripyat, Ukraine
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"On April 26, 1986 the worst nuclear accident in history took place in Chernobyl, Ukraine as a result of an unnecessary safety test. Workers at Reactor No. 4 turned off the emergency cooling system to find out if there would be enough electricity in the grid systems that cooled the core if the reactor were to lose power. As a result of several factors, including a reactor design flaw, operational errors, and flouted safety procedures, there was a power surge, a steam explosion, and finally a nuclear explosion that shot the reactor's 500 ton roof and almost nine tons of toxic waste straight up into the air at 1:26 am on Saturday, April 26, 1986.

Once the seriousness of the situation was known, Mikhail Gorbachev, the president of the USSR at the time, quickly gathered the top physicists and nuclear experts at his disposal to assess the situation. Thirty-six hours after the initial explosion, these experts decided the residents of Pripyat must evacuate. Residents were given two hours to gather their belongings. The evacuation of Pripyat's 43,000 residents took 3.5 hours, using 1,100 buses from Kiev. Residents remember that everyone was in a hurry, but nobody was panicking. The residents of Pripyat were initially told they would be evacuated only for three days. However, to this day, the town is uninhabitable.

Many of the town's residents would die of illnesses related to the accident in the days, months, or years following. Moscow's Hospital No. 6, the only hospital in the USSR specializing in nuclear wounds, treated many from Pripyat and other nearby-evacuated areas, many of them children."

Read more here: Chernobyl: A Short History of the Human Impact

 

[Desert Fox]

Detroit, Michigan, United States

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"The City of Detroithas gone through a major economic and demographic decline in recent decades. The population of the city has fallen from a high of 1,850,000 in 1950 to 701,000 in 2013. The automobile industry in Detroit has suffered from global competition and has moved much of the remaining production out of Detroit. Some of the highest crime rates in the United States are now those of Detroit, and huge areas of the city are in a state of severe urban decay. In 2013, Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history.[1][2]On December 10, 2014, the city successfully exited bankruptcy."

Decline of Detroit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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[Desert Fox]

More from Detroit, Michigan, United States:

 

[Azeri440]

Didn't think Detroit was that bad

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Didn't think Detroit was that bad

It's been bad for a long long long time.

 

[Azeri440]

It's been bad for a long long long time.

can't believe a bankrupt Detroit got nearly half a billion for construction of a hockey arena

 

[Desert Fox]

Beelitz-Heilstätten Sanatorium,
Germany

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"Rusty beds, vine-covered buildings and empty corridors with walls covered in graffiti and slowly peeling paint are what remains of a gigantic hospital which once treated Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, after it was abandoned in the fall of East Germany.

Beelitz-Heilstätten, a 60-building treatment complexsouthwest of the German capital,was built in the late 19th century to help rehabilitate the growing number of tuberculosis patients in the expanding city of Berlin.

During the Great War, Beelitz-Heilstätten -or Beelitz Sanatorium -was turned into a military hospital and was where a young Adolf Hitler was treated for a thigh injury acquired during the Battle of the Somme.

Beelitz-Heilstätten was built between 1898 and 1930 after an initiative by the German National Insurance Institute who found that the closeness to Berlin in combination with the fresh air of the countryside made the location ideal for a sanatorium.

Parts of the complex was turned into a military hospital by the German Imperial Army when World War I broke out and was where Adolf Hitler was sent to recover from his war wounds in late 1916.

The 60-building complex did not only have treatment facilities but functioned as a little village and had a butcher's, a post office, a restaurant, a bakery and even its own power station which was so powerful snow never settled on Beelitz-Heilstätten’s grounds.

Although the economic crisis following the war saw many wards close, Beelitz-Heilstätten was considered a global frontrunner in tuberculosis treatment.

During the Second World War several buildings were bombed by the Allied Forces and in 1945 it was occupied by Soviet forces and remained a Soviet military hospital even after Germany united in 1990."

Hitler's hospital: The haunting remains of Nazi Germany's Beelitz Sanatorium, where the rusting operating tables have lain untouced since it was abandoned | Daily Mail Online

Haunted by history: The ghosts of Beelitz-Heilstätten | Abandoned Berlin

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[Skull and Bones]

Only good thing that came out of Detroit lately.