Berghof Obersalzberg

[Geoff Walden]

Gary, I think this would be better answered by those on this thread who live in the BGL area - I have been there a lot in early October, but not very often after that. Mainly because of the threat of snow later on. Myself, I think it would be much safer to start your holiday in BGL.

[Mannheim]

Done, thanks Geoff! I've moved Berchtesgaden and surrounds to early October and Berlin last. Looking forward to a local beer or three...

[British Sapper]

We never got to drink any beer from the Hofbrauhaus when my unit 26 Armoured Engineer Squadron - Royal Engineers; where based at Strub kaserne. They actually refused us entry. This was 1974,75 and 76. Which is why we frequented the Berchtesgadener Hof mainly and the General Walker. The US Army, to whom we were attached then, were more than welcoming to us.The smaller bars in Berchtesgaden welcomed us , one of them even giving us free drinks !

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: Winter on the Obersalzberg. Source: Illustrierter Beobachter, Jahrgang 1935
Cheers. Raúl M .

[tunix0]

Hi!

I was on vacation in Berchtesgaden with my family for the last two weeks. It was very nice there and I could see a lot again. Maybe I'll show some photos here, I just have to sort them first.

To my surprise i had the pleasure of meeting Henk, the unofficial "groundkeeper" of the Berghof-Site. He just started his job of cleaning up the place when we were there and I had a very nice long talk with him. He really knows a lot about the Obersalzberg and the changes of the last decades. So if you're there and see the caravan in the driveway, talk to him! He is very helpful and explains everything on request.

Furthermore we visited the extension site of the Documentation Center to see the changes. Here are a few photos. The new building is very large and very modern in design. Not really nice, I think. But maybe I change my mind when everything is done.

That's it for now. In the next few days I will show more current pictures of the Obersalzberg.

Regards
Christian

[tunix0]

More Pics...

[Geoff Walden]

Hi Christian,

Thanks for these photos! I was there for a week in July - I still don't have all my photos sorted, but I thought I would post a few to complement yours.

They are still repairing damage from the awful winter, to the roads on the Obersalzberg and the Kehlstein, and also at the Kehlsteinhaus. The massive amounts of snow knocked over a bit of the old wooden security fencing, so temporary fencing was anchored to concrete blocks flown up there by helicopter.

Geoff

[Geoff Walden]

The Dokumentation tunnel was open while I was there, but apparently it is sometimes closed during the construction. The current entrance is out the basement door and down a gravel path, into the foundations of the new extension, and from there through the side of the original concrete block exit to the Gästehaus tunnel. This large concrete exit structure is no longer visible at all. According to the plan shown at the site (which Christian posted), it appears that entrance will eventually be back through the original doorway. Also, the tunnel visit will be a circular tour through this entrance, ending up at the current unfinished emergency exit near the original staircase up to the Platterhof. This is currently closed off by a wooden structure. This part of the tunnel will be opened back up and the tour will continue through there back into the new expansion. The posted plan does not show the tunnel tour going to many parts that are now open; we can only hope that all the parts of the tunnel that are open now will remain accessible to the public.

[Geoff Walden]

Christian, did you see this odd "graffiti" on the side of the Platterhof Terrassenhalle? I was not able to discover the story behind this.

[tunix0]

Christian, did you see this odd "graffiti" on the side of the Platterhof Terrassenhalle? I was not able to discover the story behind this.

IMG_1594.JPG
IMG_1594t.JPG

Hi Geoff,

yes, i saw the graffiti too. Looks like some Yu-Gi-Oh comic art. But I do not know it either.

https://www.google.de/search?sa=X&q=yu- ... 20&bih=916

[tunix0]

Hi Christian,

Thanks for these photos! I was there for a week in July - I still don't have all my photos sorted, but I thought I would post a few to complement yours.

They are still repairing damage from the awful winter, to the roads on the Obersalzberg and the Kehlstein, and also at the Kehlsteinhaus. The massive amounts of snow knocked over a bit of the old wooden security fencing, so temporary fencing was anchored to concrete blocks flown up there by helicopter.

Geoff

Hi Geoff,

yes, the fence is still broken and is lying around there. He has not been renewed yet.

Fencing is also being built in the upper area on the Kehlsteinstreet to avoid falling rocks.

Christian

[tunix0]

A while back there was a thread (was it here?) about whether or not drivers turned around in the Berghof driveway or backed down then backed up. This last picture kinda ends that question in my opinion. Though, imagine being THE driver to send the Fuhrer's limo tumbling down the side of the mountain trying to turn around!

Hi,

i had the same in mind. But not because of the last picture. The first picture is interesting as it shows a car which was driven the driveway up in reverse gear. There was no space to turn around. So it shows us that they have also driven backwards, which was not known in the other photos of the main driveway.

As a driver I would have done it as follows:
- Bring visitors (Hitler) to the house --> drive upwards the driveway so that they can get off comfortably
- Pick up visitors (Hitler) from the house --> drive backwards the driveway in reverse gear or turn around in front of the Garage, so that they can get in comfortably

But with the knowledge of how steep it is there, i would prefer the reverse gear instead of turning my car on the relative small parking lot in front of the Berghof, it's a lot easier.

Regards

In conversation with Henk I asked him again for an old unsolved topic. We discussed it in 2017. It was about whether the vehicles turned up at the Berghof or whether they were turning on the road.

Henk replied that they had tried several times to turn up at the Berghof. But it was too complicated due to the large turning circles. They ended up doing it, as I suspected. They drove upwards the driveway to let the passengers get off comfortably. Then they drove backwards in reverse gear, turned on the street and drove in reverse gear up to the Berghof, so they could easily start again. That also would have been my best solution.

Christian

[Max]

In conversation with Henk I asked him again for an old unsolved topic. We discussed it in 2017. It was about whether the vehicles turned up at the Berghof or whether they were turning on the road.

Henk replied that they had tried several times to turn up at the Berghof. But it was too complicated due to the large turning circles. They ended up doing it, as I suspected. They drove upwards the driveway to let the passengers get off comfortably. Then they drove backwards in reverse gear, turned on the street and drove in reverse gear up to the Berghof, so they could easily start again. That also would have been my best solution.

Christian

And yet ...

It's interesting here to note, about Erich Kempka's comments about turning a vehicle around in that driveway. In his memoirs, he describes how difficult it was, many times more than once . . .

viewtopic.php?p=2065970#p2065970

Can you remind me who Henk is?
Cheers

[tunix0]

Hi Max,

Henk volunteers to take care of Berghofsite and other places around. I did not know him so far, but Geoff had written of him here in the thread. He is very friendly and has been busy with the Obersalzberg for ages. He tidies up, clarifies visitors and has even repaired the lookout point on the Mooslahnerkopf by himself. He spends a couple of weeks in Berchtesgaden and always parks his mobile home in the Berghof driveway.

It was interesting to meet him and see him at work. And the conversation showed that he knows a lot about the Berghof. He was friends with Rochus Misch and I think he learned a lot from him. Henk knows this thread and also some people here in the forum. For me so far the best source for the answer to my question.

If you have the chance to meet him, then do not hesitate to contact him.

Christian

[Annelie]

Thankyou for the information, but I need to ask the
question "what time of the day or what days would this
person be on the property to ask questions?"

Been there numerous times and have never seen anyone
even visiting the property but then I do like to go there
end of October when all the tourists have left.