Day 8: Berchtesgaden, Germany

Today was our planned day trip to Berchtesgaden in Germany, best known for being one of Hitler's main homes during WW2 and part of Nazi headquarters.

Instead of taking the very convenient but very packed tour buses from Salzburg, we booked tickets through Eagle's Nest Historical Tours - a British operation based in Berchtesgaden. Since we booked the tickets in advance, we were lucky to snag a day that the Eagle's Nest was opened (its season began just three days prior due to late snow!) AND on a sunny, warm, and only slightly hazy day.

Prior to the trip, I had read "On Hitler's Mountain" - as described in this post - so I had a basic idea of what to expect. But I was still taken aback by the area's natural beauty and very unnatural infamous history.

After squeezing in a quick walk and visit to Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg - a mostly overcrowded and slightly disappointing sight - we hopped a bus and were off to Germany. (No passports needed and sadly no additional stamp -- the border is so barely marked that neither of us noticed it on the way there!)

So much of Europe today has been impacted by WW2, and even though Berchtesgaden didn't see much physical warfare, we could feel the weight of history on this picturesque town. Hitler spent much of WW2 in his home on this mountain -- in a house partway up, not the Eagle's Nest retreat at the top due to his fear of heights.

How something so evil could be masterminded from a place so beautiful was heartbreakingly ironic.

A river ran through the town at the base of the mountain.

Views as our bus climbed the mountain to the Eagle's Nest. We made a short stop at a museum & toured remains of WW2 era bunkers.

Original plaque with dedication date at tunnel to Eagle's Nest entrance - 1938

In the Eagle's Nest, at the top of the mountain, looking out.

Eagle's Nest building is structure at left, the umbrellas in front of it are part of its restaurant. Austria had to agree not to turn the structure into a monument or museum as part of their treaty. Proceeds from the restaurants benefit charities.

Beautiful views, ghastly history.



Partway up the mountain, we stopped at a very well-done museum that included access to many of the area's original bunkers.

The special buses from Berchtesgaden up to the Eagle's Nest are switched out every five years and equipped with super-intense breaking systems. They went up the one-lane road with crazy precision, one bus coming down and one going up at the same time; the descending bus would pull over partway to avoid a head-on collision. Don't sit by the window if you have vertigo!

Berchtesgaden was a powerful experience, but let's end on a few lighter photos from the day after we returned to Salzburg:

Another parade! The Salzburg Military marched right past our restaurant during dinner.

Street performers with impressive creativity -- this one moved a marionette skeleton puppet to Elvis songs.

Auf Wiedersehen!