Berchtesgaden...Eagles Nest

Tuesday 6th October
Germany-Berchtesgaden- Eagles nest

On Tuesday, after we’d been to the information centre we decided to drive to the tiny town of Obersalzberg 3km out of Berchtesgaden, to visit the place when the Nazis had their southern headquarters. Hitler fell in love with the town and slowly he and his henchmen took over and made it their holiday location. There was a Document Museum which was incredibly cheap at 3E (and 2E for an audio guide). When we first saw the museum we thought it would take us all of 15 minutes and we’d be out.

But we were there for hours!!! Everything was written in German and therefore the audio guide was a necessity. The amount of letter, documents, advertisement, photos and video was astounding. Everything about Hitler and the Nazi part were covered in extraordinary depth; things like the daily life of the Nazi bigwigs, Hitler propaganda machine, the death camps and resistance.

When we entered we didn’t realise that the building actually covered 3 levels. All three levels were covered with exhibits; fascinating and disturbing.

The 3rd level lead to the bunkers. I’d heard nothing about these bunkers and so when I went inside them I was staggered. The bunkers we saw were only a small section that’s been opened to public. Hitler has built huge bunkers in Obersalzberg, with enough space to comfortably live with this nasty crew and their families and a few years ago they discovered the bunker went down another 200 metres and plans had been made to house 300 of his S.S officer and their families. The bunkers had started to be built in the late 1920’s by Hitler!!! These bunkers were flood and gas proof, because Hitler, who’d been temporarily blinded by gas in WWI, had a fear of being gassed!!! The guide said that these bunkers were beautifully decorated with parquetry floods, imported tiles and wonderful fittings. She went on to describe the amount of rations that were kept at any time, they were planning on staying there a while…..

We left my Dad, went back to the car park and had lunch. We’d planned to return to the same place to visit Eagles Nest tomorrow and Kurt was annoyed that he’d have to drive the same steep roads again, especially since we were now just sitting and waiting for my Dad. (My parents were booked into a tour the following day and would also return with the tour bus to see the Document Museum and Eagles Nest)

We quickly decided to leave my Mum to wait for my Dad and off we raced to catch a bus to the Eagles Nest. The main reason people visit Berchtesgaden is Mt Kehlstein, know to the rest of the world as Eagles Nest. (A phrase coined by journalist) One of Hitler’s key henchmen Bofmann organised a private meeting place for Hitler’s 50th birthday, a lodge perched on one of the world’s most breathtaking spots. The view has to be seen to be believed!!! Eagles Nest is surrounded by snow capped mountains and green rolling hills. Just beautiful!!! It was on top of Mt Kelstein and the road to get there is considered a feat of modern engineering. The road was closed to public and we took a bus (driven so fast by a madman) up to the bus parking spot. Then we walked through a 124metre tunnel, and then caught an elevator up 124metres UP into the mountain. This elevator was luxurious and brass and mirror-covered, b/c Hitler was claustrophobic!!!!!

There was a lot of cloud cover when we went up but as it was also windy the clouds constantly moved, up and around us. But the view, Oh my god….and apparently Hitler rarely stayed b/c he suffered from vertigo. What other fears could that madman have had???

We returned very late and my parents were sitting in the motor home having a cup of coffee, while dinner cooked slowly.



Wednesday 8th October
Germany- Berchtesgaden

While my parents did their tour, we walked around the city centre of Berchtesgaden and it was lovely.

But to be honest it was lovely to return back to the motor home, have a cup of tea and play cards with the kids all afternoon. Kurt was atempting to play poker using lentles as money!!! Even though we’re doing this trip at our pace, it can still get very tiring. That afternoon was relaxing and just what we needed.

My parents returned from their tour really pleased and full of fascinating information.

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