Berchtesgaden

[Ezboard]

Rick Stewart
Unregistered
(11/20/00 2:55:35 pm)
Reply Berchtesgaden
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Were can I find info and (even more important) images of Berchtesgaden?
Has it been destroyed or is it open to visitors?

Any help would be great

Rick

von stauffenberg
Member
Posts: 40
(11/22/00 6:42:21 pm)
Reply Berchtesgaden
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I doubt this is what you were looking for but this is a link for the town:

http://www.berchtesgadener-land.com/home.htm


Dula
Unregistered
(11/24/00 3:45:39 am)
Reply Berchtesgarden
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Rick,

Her is the long answer to a short question.

I assume you are referring to Hitler's mountain home, the Berghof, located on the Obersalzburg all of which are located on the outskirts of Berchtesgarden. I had the opportunity to travel there the Summer of 1986.

I was only there for a day trip, but the visit was very interesting. At that time all that remained of the Berghof was the garage, the top of which served as a veranda and the retaining wall that ran along the driveway that lead up to the garage. Trees and brush were very thick and it was difficult to locate reference points. But if one was persistent and had some good references you could pretty much visualize how things were back in the days of the Third Reich. I was able to get into the garage itself. Supposedly the cellars of the Berghof and the bowling ally were accessible at that time but the access was not clear to me during my visit and of course there is always the safety issue of going in sub terrain areas alone,etc. Of course there were no trespassing signs in the area which I ignored. At that time I was the only sightseer that day and the area is so heavily wooded that it would take a determined search for someone from the nearby road to see you.

The Berghof of course was bombed in late April 1945 and then set on fire by the SS in early May right before VE day. For several years the burned/bombed out shell was visited by first allied soldiers and later by German civilians. In the 1950's the Bavarian government blew up the remains for fear the ruins would become a Nazi shrine. For some reason the garage and approach retaining wall were left in place. At the time of my visit The publication "After the Battle" number 9 gave excellent detail, maps and history of the whole area. We returned to the area in the Summer of 1995 for a trip to the Konigsee but I was unable to visit the Obersalzberg then so I do not know what the status of the ruins were at that time. However, I recently saw on a program the History Channel that all the remains(garage and retaining walls) were leveled within the last year or two and fast growing trees planted in this area. There are many of other building s, Eagle's Nest, Bromann's Office, Hotel Platterhof, Speer's Home, etc., that remain so I think a visit would still be worth at least a day trip,

The adjacent Pension Zum Turken, still stands. During the Third Reich it was the RSHD HQ. After the war it returned to is previous owners who still runs it today. In addition to a gift shop packed with books on the Berghof one can tour the extension tunnel system built by Bormann. There is also other gift shops in the area that sell books on the area. A condensed summary is listed below.

"Obersalzberg"
"The Eagle's Nest"
"The Obersalzburg and the 3 Reich"
"Berchtesgaden"
All Published by Verlag A. Plenk KG
"Obersalzberg, The Biography of the III Reich"
"Obersalzberg, Before and after the Destruction"
Both have excellent color photos and are Published by Verlag Erwinn and Silvia Fabritius
"Obersalzburg"
Published by Verlag Josef Geiss Berchtesgaden
"Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun on the Obersalzberg"
Published by Verlag Silvia
Eva Braun color home movies, most of which were filmed at the Berghof,(6 hrs worth)are open to public veiwing at the National Archives located on the Mall in Washington, DC

All of these sources are loaded with photos. Perhaps Marcus knows of others. If you want to help support this site purchase your books thru the Amazon link and Marcus gets a small donation to help fund his research. It is the least we can do to help support Marcus. If you have a tight budget I would recommend buying the book by Verlag Silvia first and then the books by Fabritius. IHS also sells a condensed version of Eva's home movies. Again there is a link to that site on this site.

Good Luck!


Goggi
Member
Posts: 81
(11/25/00 8:44:53 am)
Reply Berchtesgaden
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Dula,

You did not emphasize a visit to the Eagle' Nest (= Kehlsteinhaus) which is really nice, and also to the Tunnelsystem which connects Hotel Tuerken, Berghof and the other buildings. Only Goering objected to be connected to it!--Berchtesgaden itself is a little picturesque Bavarian town which has nothing in common with the Hitler compound around the Berghof, because it is located about 10 Km distant. It has a Railroad station, a saltmine open to the public and a chairlift up the "Jenner" open all year. Besides a beautiful little mountain lake ("Koenigsee") is just in the vicinity. If you like an icecold swim which stops your breath, this is the place!

Goggi

Geoff Walden
Unregistered
(12/6/00 11:48:29 am)
Reply "Third Reich in Ruins" page - Obersalzberg & B
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Rick,

Lots of info and lots of photos, then and now, of all the Obersalzberg buildings and ruins, plus Nazis in Berchtesgaden, are on the "Third Reich in Ruins" page.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barra ... hruins.htm

I will be back there in a couple of weeks and will check the status then, but as of late October, the Platterhof had been demolished (except one side building), and they appeared to be dumping some of the rubble on the Berghof driveways, apparently to deny access. They put up a rather flimsy fence around the Berghof site, but the gates were never put up (as of October).

I heard a rumor that someone was going to build a hotel on the site of Landhaus Goering ... don't know the truth of this, but there was some sort of core sample drilling going on near there in October.

It would not surprise me if they completely covered the Berghof site, so that none of the remains are visible at all (the garage was removed in 1995, but the retaining walls and some of the foundation are still there).

Geoff Walden
[email protected]

[Faulknerroy]

Is there anyone in this forum who worked in Obersalzburg during WWII? I'm trying to track down people who could have worked with my mother.