Berghof Obersalzberg

[Geoff Walden]

Thanks for the pic, J.R. For orientation, that's just about where the marker sign stands today (pretty close).

Here is a 1945 view that shows the film projection holes in the ruined Great Room.

[Geoff Walden]

The films at the link that Patches posted show an Obersalzberg building that I don't think I ever saw in a photo before. In Josef Geiss' book Obersalzberg he describes an SS guard house that was located at the intersection of the main road that ran east from the Platterhof toward Klaushöhe, and the small road that ran down behind the SS Kaserne, to the road intersection at the Hintereck area.

Geiss says that Bormann didn't like this building, and he had it torn down and another built on the other side of the road, which was an expensive project due to the requirement to build on a steep slope.

There are several period photos of the new sentry house (sometimes called "Torhaus Klingeck"), but I don't recall that I have ever seen any photo of the original guard house that was on the other side of the road (and a little closer to the Platterhof). Note also that there is another small building on the open hillside a little to the west of the guard house - probably a barracks for workers or the construction companies (this building does not appear in later aerial photos).

AKH Collection

bldg1a.jpg (18.2 KiB) Viewed 2544 times

AKH Collection

Here is the "expensive sentry house" that Bormann had built on the other side of the intersection. The original building looks much larger than this replacement, which only guarded the small road down to the Hintereck, not the main road, as the original building appears to have done.

US National Archives

[*NL*]

Nice work Geoff, another good addition to the Obersalzberg thread.

Hans.

[Timo-T]

Hi,
A new intresting pic for me! Thanks Geoff!

In Josef Geiss' book Obersalzberg he describes an SS guard house that was located at the intersection of the main road that ran east from the Platterhof toward Klaushöhe, and the small road that ran down behind the SS Kaserne, to the road intersection at the Hintereck area.

Geiss says that Bormann didn't like this building, and he had it torn down and another built on the other side of the road, which was an expensive project due to the requirement to build on a steep slope.

The same you can read in the Book of Max Hartmann...
I belive too, that the smaller buildings on the hill are maybe two baracks. On the first view on your bigger pic I had think this, just before I read your text.

[Geoff Walden]

Some people say that Josef Geiß got all the info for his book from Max Hartmann.

There was an article in the Berchtesgaden paper today about the Göllhäusl / Dietrich-Eckart-Hütte. Google translates this fairly well, for non-German readers.

http://www.berchtesgadener-anzeiger.de/ ... 14473.html

Basically, it says that the house was owned 1903-1923 by Countess von Ortenburg from Niederbayern. Then the Baroness Claire von Abegg, a diplomat's widow from Berlin got the house. She let Dietrich Eckart stay there because she was a Hitler fan. When she died in 1935, she let the property pass to the NS-Regime as a trust.

[CPB]

Nice view of the steps and east(?) wing.

[AlainDucasse]

This page (http://oldillusion.weebly.com/berghof.html) shows a picture of the "final" plans for the Berghof which not take place. Does anybody has more informations and/or pictures/plans?

[Geoff Walden]

Alain,

I have seen poor copies of other plans, that is, other variations of the possible further remodeling of the Berghof. As far as I know, these plans are not online anywhere (if anyone knows, please let us know!). Maybe these other plans are in the Bavarian State Archives, but I have not seen them listed there.

[Annelie]

Amazing what details one finds when they re-read previous read books.
In this case After the Battle Obersalzberg Number 9

This is about the decision about the destroying of the Berghof,

The authorities were adamant and on Wednesday
April 30, 1952 at 5:05 p.m. Hitler's House the Berghof, was blown
up by a German Demolition firm.

The editor has been unable to discover the true reasoning behind the choice of
this day: was it an accident that the very day chosen was that on which Hitler had
committed suicide in Berlin exactly seven years before--even to the hour when
his body was being burnt?

Don't know if this has been discussed as I don't remember it nor can I find anything...but
this I find curious.

[Geoff Walden]

Hi Annelie,

I've never seen any records from the period that specifically deal with this, but it's hard to imagine that this date was not chosen deliberately.

Local historian Matthias Schmid said in a 2011 article that the date was only determined at the last minute. The article perhaps implies that the date was not determined or publicized earlier, to keep any spectators away. (Matthias Schmid, "Wenn die Steine reden ...," Berchtesgadener Heimatkalender, Berchtesgadener Anzeiger, 2011, page 65)

[AlainDucasse]

Thanks Geoff! If you will get any further informations, please let me konw.

Alain,

I have seen poor copies of other plans, that is, other variations of the possible further remodeling of the Berghof. As far as I know, these plans are not online anywhere (if anyone knows, please let us know!). Maybe these other plans are in the Bavarian State Archives, but I have not seen them listed there.

[Oberhessin]

I'd like to ask for your help with a photo ID
The SS-Kaserne near the Berghof, sometimes in June 1943. A presentation of new weapons.
Who is the man in front of Albert Bormann? Ritterkreuzträger in the Center.



Source, BSB, Hoffmann-Fotos.
Thank you very much in advance!

[British Sapper]

The face looks a little like Leon Degrelle. But I can't see any SS indicators.

[AlainDucasse]

Nice work Geoff.

Does somebody know if there is a map/plan which shows where all guard-houses (Torhäuser) at Obersalzberg area are located. I´m doing very hard to figure out, where all these different guard-houses are.

[Jeroen7]

Here you find some of them.