Former Czech sanatorium falls into disrepair after Soviet takeover
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In Kostelec nad Černými lesy, Czech Republic, a once-renowned tuberculosis sanatorium that pioneered new treatments in the 1940s now stands largely abandoned.
The sanatorium, initially a small hospital, grew to accommodate 200 patients under Doctor Trippe’s innovative methods and attracted specialists from across the country. In 1971, the Soviet Army seized the facility, forcing over 200 tuberculosis patients and more than 100 staff to leave immediately and renaming it the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Hospital.
After the Soviets departed in the early 1990s, the building briefly housed a facility for children with cerebral palsy, but plans to modernize it as a clinic never materialized. The municipality of Kostelec nad Černými lesy now owns the complex and has demolished some buildings, converting a former dormitory into 44 apartments.
The town plans to build a parking lot and a senior home, but it is still seeking a buyer or investor for the main sanatorium building, leaving its future uncertain.
