Inside the creepy German retirement home that has been left to crumble since 1990 - PHOTO

This once majestic building in Saxony Anhalt, Germany, started life as a castle. It was then transformed into a manor house, before finally being converted into a retirement home after the Second World War.Now derelict, it has been abandoned since 1990. Rusting wheelchairs sit gathering dust in what were once finely-decorated rooms creating an altogether spooky atmosphere like the set of a horror film.The eerie photographs were captured by German audio producer and photographer Stefan Dietze, 31, after he finally tracked down the old retirement castle.He said: 'I heard some rumours about the castle, all focusing on the fact that it was used as a retirement home before it was abandoned,' says Stefan, of Leipzig.'I was especially keen on seeing the countless wheelchairs which were still standing around unused and abandoned, and all the old medical equipment was still intact and inside. 'There was a heavy mouldy scent in the moist air and I found it rather hard to breathe once inside, the atmosphere was really strange.'You had these fantastic rooms with remains of the old 'castle glory', but they were filled with rather modern stuff belonging to the retirement usage, such as countless wheelchairs, beds, chair, and desks.'I do believe that growing old in this castle must have been very nice. There are many big rooms and a large hall with very nice woodwork on the walls.'Reusing parts from an old castle, which once stood on the same spot, the manor house was built in 1801. After the Second World War the owners were ousted by the German Democratic Republic government, which decided to use the old manor house as a retirement home instead.Stefan says: 'When people see my photographs they are astonished by the fact that a seemingly intact building is just left to rot.'Usually my pictures are described to be very emotional and romantic, as they give people the notion that everything is bound to end. 'When they look at my pictures they do see the beauty that was once there and how nature it slowly reconquering.'The most important thing for me as a photographer is to tell a story with my pictures. 'I want people to look at them and to start wondering what once might have happened in the particular setting, who could have lived and died in the old castle over the centuries.'(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az