Originally designed as a sanatorium by the Berlin workers' health insurance corporation the large hospital complex of about 60 buildings served as a military hospital of the Imperial German Army from the beginning of World War I. In 1916, Adolf Hitler recuperated at Beelitz-Heilstätten after a leg injury at the Battle of the Somme. In 1945, Beelitz-Heilstätten was occupied by Soviet forces, and remained a Soviet military hospital until 1995, well after the German reunification. In 1990, Erich Honecker was admitted to Beelitz-Heilstätten after being forced to resign as the head of the East German government.
Following the Soviet withdrawal, some sections of the hospital have been restored as a neurological rehabilitation center and as a center for research and care for victims of Parkinsons disease. The remainder of the complex, including the surgery, the psychiatric ward, and a rifle range, was abandoned in 2000. Beelitz-Heilstätten served as a film set for movies like The Pianist (2002).