A&Eerie: Spooky images of Europe's abandoned hospitals show how once pristine medical facilities have become the casualties of time

  • The haunting shots reveal rubble-strewn wards, crumbling corridors and bleak operating theatres
  • The pictures are both stark and strangely beautiful as the formerly sterile spaces give in to decay
  • Photographer Stefan Baumann, 35, travelled across Europe in search of the empty buildings 
  • He said the main challenge when exploring the empty sites was not letting his imagination run wild 

Wards with empty beds, corridors without queues and operating theatres with no waiting list... but it's safe to say you wouldn't want to be admitted to any of these creepy institutions. 

Vienna-based photographer Stefan Baumann, 35, travelled around Italy and Belgium in search of the abandoned hospitals. He captured every part of the spooky spaces from the rubble-strewn wards to the bleak operating theatres, many of them untouched and with their now sinister-looking equipment still in place. 

'We see the old instruments and imagine the methods of treatment that were used hundreds of years ago,' he said.

'On the one hand we notice the decay and associate bad, dark and frightening feelings but we do also see the original, positive and lifesaving purpose these places had.'

He said the main challenge when exploring the empty sites was not letting his imagination run wild. 

'When you read of hundreds of people who were treated with electric shocks or had cut open their skulls because of their psychiatric illness, you have a strange feeling when standing on this site,' he said.

The overall effect is eerie but oddly captivating.


 Vienna-based photographer Stefan Baumann, 35, travelled across Europe in search of abandoned hospitals

 Vienna-based photographer Stefan Baumann, 35, travelled across Europe in search of abandoned hospitals

Empty beds: But you wouldn't want to be admitted onto to this grimy dust-covered ward

Empty beds: But you wouldn't want to be admitted onto to this grimy dust-covered ward

Some of the stark spaces appear almost untouched by time but the surgical facilities are somewhat less than sterile

Some of the stark spaces appear almost untouched by time but the surgical facilities are somewhat less than sterile

Despite the crumbling tiles and dusty floors much of the old medical equipment has simply been left where it stood

Despite the crumbling tiles and dusty floors much of the old medical equipment has simply been left where it stood

The pictures are both stark and strangely beautiful as the formerly pristine spaces give in to time and decay

The pictures are both stark and strangely beautiful as the formerly pristine spaces give in to time and decay

The effect is eerie but oddly captivating as we see facilities built to heal and care have been left to rot

The effect is eerie but oddly captivating as we see facilities built to heal and care have been left to rot

 Nature begins to take over in this hospital corridor as vines make their way in through the open shutters

 Nature begins to take over in this hospital corridor as vines make their way in through the open shutters

 The stuff of nightmares: The images swing between the hauntingly beautiful and the plain terrifying

 The stuff of nightmares: The images swing between the hauntingly beautiful and the plain terrifying

Formerly crowded corridors are now littered with peeling paint and broken tiles as the buildings fall into disrepair

Formerly crowded corridors are now littered with peeling paint and broken tiles as the buildings fall into disrepair

Some of the facilities are unrecognisable as machines are abandoned and shelves emptied of their contents

Some of the facilities are unrecognisable as machines are abandoned and shelves emptied of their contents

The shots show the beds patients would have recovered on while some of the drawers and surfaces still hold their belongings

The shots show the beds patients would have recovered on while some of the drawers and surfaces still hold their belongings

In the bleak operating theatres the abandoned equipment now takes on a sinister edge

In the bleak operating theatres the abandoned equipment now takes on a sinister edge

Where tiles once gleamed and surgical tools sparkled, there is now only dust and dirt

Where tiles once gleamed and surgical tools sparkled, there is now only dust and dirt

The images are at once captivating and vaguely  terrifying as the buildings slowly become the casualties of time

The images are at once captivating and vaguely  terrifying as the buildings slowly become the casualties of time

Flaking walls and rusting pipework makes for a compelling shot but these rooms are on the edge of ruin

Flaking walls and rusting pipework makes for a compelling shot but these rooms are on the edge of ruin

Once built to halt the tide of time these rooms are now giving in to decay and the power of nature

Once built to halt the tide of time these rooms are now giving in to decay and the power of nature

Countless lives began and were saved here but these hospitals are reaching the end of theirs

Countless lives began and were saved here but these hospitals are reaching the end of theirs

It's a far cry from modern hospital receptions but the grandeur has given way to grime

It's a far cry from modern hospital receptions but the grandeur has given way to grime

 Imagining what once went on in these silent rooms is part of what makes his images so spooky

 Imagining what once went on in these silent rooms is part of what makes his images so spooky

There's no waiting list for surgery at this clinic... but then again there are no surgeons either

There's no waiting list for surgery at this clinic... but then again there are no surgeons either

You might feel some slight discomfort: Old examination benches have been left to rust

You might feel some slight discomfort: Old examination benches have been left to rust

Even though the sunlight filters in through the shutters and doors, this hospital corridor still carries an air of desolation 

Even though the sunlight filters in through the shutters and doors, this hospital corridor still carries an air of desolation 

No cure: The ancient hospitals are left to fade away into destruction and gloom

No cure: The ancient hospitals are left to fade away into destruction and gloom

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