Lostplace East Germany Tour

06. Juni 2020
We would like to take you with our virtual blog on our tour through eastern Germany. It starts tomorrow morning. Maybe our blog will encourage you for such a tour. If you want to follow them, please consider that we had already collected some LPs on a previous tour. Please don't see it statically, but look for caches that are interesting for you yourself. There are even more lost places along the route.ö

07 June 2020
7.00 a.m. It starts in Worms. Our car was already packed last night. In addition to clothing and some food, we also have some geocacher equipment with us. A rod, flashlight, UV light, candle, compasses, etc. are safely stowed away in the car.
The dog has to get out before the actual start – and since we received a tip for an exciting challenge cache, we did the federal state RLP just logged at home around the corner. Yes, we still have a few Tradis here that we keep for just such cases.
Pour a coffee back at home.
And off we go on the Autobahn. The goal is to be at our first lost place, the madhouse in Saxony, after a few autobahn caches by 1 p.m. We will see....


We leave Worms at 7.20 am in bright sunshine via our beloved bridge over the Rhine. From the weather it was not the last sunshine, although we had "all the weather" - up to hail, but also heat, just everything....


A first LB at the passenger parking lot for us is "Reisebox Schweinfurt / Unterfranken", GC6JYWG. Here we make our first stop with a short walk. Since you exit the motorway and stop at a passenger parking spot, it's no problem to walk a few meters. The birdhouse is easy to find a few meters from the parking lot, so we were able to sign the first log of the trip with our Brummelbären stamp.


We went on to a T5 in an industrial area. The cache with the name "Lostplace im Industriegebiet", GC70GWB, fitted our tour perfectly. It's right next to a motorway exit and we had the ladder in the car anyway... So go ahead and get the T5. The cache is also easy to see on site – hire the ladder and log. It's just a pity that it's a letterbox that, due to the size of the container alone, can't hold a stamp. So we could log with our nickname stamp, but we couldn't put a letterbox stamp in our stamp book.


The multi "PWC Streitau Ost", GC6C2AW, should be our first multi cache of the tour. Approachable directly from a motorway rest area, it should be quick to do. Unfortunately we had tomatoes on our eyes or the little jar is gone - at least we put down a DNF here.

For this we quickly added the multi "Vogtlands Art-Attack #Die Margeriten", GC788Z2, to our route. It also went quite quickly and with this cache in Saxony we also had three federal states on that day. What is this important for? Yes, the next thing on the agenda was a challenge. We got the tip from Keinmuggelmehr, who rushed us a few days ahead of us. Bei „DREILÄNDERECK VOGTLAND - Challenge Cache", GC3677P, is exactly what it's all about: having decorated three countries or federal states with a cache find in the Dreiländereck in one day. And exactly on the day on which you also log the challenge. Said and done.




With this cache our journey was actually over. From now on we had arrived in the target area. Since we still had a few minutes left before meeting Keinmuggel, and the rain had just eased off a little, we made our way to the good-sounding cache„Holzmichel's forest mailbox“, GC5BAYR. The path was a bit strange though... We left the cache mobile a few meters in front of the cache and walked along the path. Definitely a hiking trail in the forest, but with a large sign saying "private path". Take a look at the sign yourself. So they don't want any mail? Okay, but there were mailboxes at the single house behind it…. Since the weather really didn't let a dog outside the door and nobody was to be seen far and wide, we dared to walk a short distance along this path. Then off into the forest. There we found Holzmichel's mailbox very quickly. Nice photos taken and rated for a good start to a Lostplace week. Quickly the way back to the cache mobile and on to our first actual goal: the meeting point with the no-muggles and the visit to the insane asylum.





More accurate: „The whole world is a madhouse...!“, GC4RCQ5 should be our first Lostplace visit. It's not easy to find a way here either. Usually through the woods and up behind. This was not possible due to the wet weather conditions. We couldn't make any headway in the forest. We lost heart a bit and decided to just look at the object from the front to maybe get an idea. Also here: we were on the way here by ourselves…. A quick look around, didn't see any eyes on the windows and took a leisurely stroll towards the property. Of course we didn't cross any barriers, it's also very easy. Sure, when the weather is better you're already on display, so we certainly don't want to recommend access through the garden. As expected and described, the property is not accessible and you can only get an impression from the outside. The cache is easy to find, you can take a few photos. Almost on the way out we found an open door without a barrier - and there we were in an old gymnasium. THE photo motif of this place, as we found. After walking around the property, we were back on the street and walked the few meters back to our cache mobile.



The next cache was planned as a highlight of our tour - and it was. „The sponsor brigade goes to the IBUG“, GC8CBF4, takes cachers on a tour of the IBUG 2019 site. IBUG stands for Industrial Wasteland Transformation – an urban arts festival. Over two weekends, more than 100 artists from more than 10 countries come together to live their art on the more than 100-year-old railway depot in Reichenbach. And the paintings, graffiti, figures and much more from last year can still be admired here on a very spacious site.


But first we went to the bridge. The cache of the same name, GC7B9DT, is listed as Virtual. The Göltzschtalbrücke is an imposing structure that is definitely worth a visit. Luckily, in addition to the obligatory photo, you also have to answer a few questions, so that you spend a little time on the site. There is also a great banner for your own profile from the owner - for us a blue heart for showing this building.


And then it finally went to the IBUG. At the starting point we queued up a bit until we came up with the right solution. It was the first time we had contact with these Lostplaces, which work very heavily with PDF files. No, we've had it before. But not so many files and not so many caches with it. So we first had to download it, tell the smartphone where to save it, etc. Then we finally got the input we wanted. I think it's a very secure method of preserving the caches and very feasible for geocachers - once you get the hang of it. My smartphone didn't want to open these files until the end of the week - good if someone from the team then sends the file via Whatsapp. So it went well for all of us....
Well, after the bumpy start near the cars, we went to the IBUG site. I was kind enough to hear about good, open access beforehand on social media. Would have gone differently, but with the tip for an open entrance, we felt safe and could easily walk there. We were also the only visitors on the whole extensive area all afternoon - so at least we didn't see anyone.
While the Brummelbären - fascinated by the first paintings - swarmed out straight away, Keinmuggel played the cache with concentration. Yes, there is a route plan and you can walk purposefully. In the end we all came to the same conclusion, you really can't get lost. So we roamed the site for a few hours - admiring the graffiti and the art left behind on the one hand, but also the remains of the impressive buildings on the other. We could have stayed here much longer....
Except for one value we were looking for, everything was found very well. It took us quite a long time, half of the time was spent on taking photos... If you have all the values, it's not a big deal to find the final. And then you have a smile on your face. But we won’t show you our photo of it, that would be too much fun…. In any case, this cache was one of our highlights of the week tour!!!!


As Brummelbären, we had the feeling that we had looked at the site extensively and for a long time. Nevertheless, we finished a little faster than our companion and - by arrangement - went to the devil's waiting room. Here it should be a lost place of a completely different kind. What awaited us could be seen from the listing and attached cacher photos. When we arrived, a group of 4 geocachers was just getting out. We chatted briefly and then we went in. I don't want to say more. Except that I was a little proud of myself afterwards! The cache is not entirely without it - but it is also listed with T5. But then he was quite doable. In the listing, the owner asks for a photo to prove that you have been to the right place. Of course, we also took these photos after we had decorated the logbook with our name. A bit dirty, but with a grin on our face we reached our cache mobile.


As a reward for the exhausting day - getting up early, many kilometers, some caches - I had promised Mr. Brummelbär a special final cache: the cache with a name „Minion“, GC64Q7F. An easy puzzle for a Minion friend and a nice spot find. Of course, a few photos were taken with the in-house mascot before we really headed towards our hotel in Chemnitz.