Part 44: The Eagles Nest August 26 2012

I didn’t realize growing up that my elementary school playground, The Eagles Nest, shared its name with Hitler’s 50^th birthday present.  Hitler’s Eagles Nest is a mountain retreat in Southern Bavaria near the Austrian border.  In German, the name of the retreat is Kehlsteinhaus, so I’m sure the coincidence was unintentional. 

On day 2 in Salzburg we were doing the one thing my dad requested:  going to The Eagles Nest.  WWII history is king in my family’s house so a trip to Hitler’s mountain retreat was only to be expected.  We boarded the bus around 8:30 am and set out across the German border to get our historical perspectives broadened. 

The Eagles Nest was given to Hitler in 1937 in honor of his 50^th birthday and is located 5,764 ft above the town of Berchtesgaden, Germany in the Bavarian Alps.  The bus you take to the top passes through 5 tunnels over a mere 4 miles.  The views are amazing!  You’re so high up that you can see forever (ok, just 120 miles). 

When the bus reaches the upper parking lot, you enter a long tunnel that goes into the mountain.  You’re lifted the last 400 ft by a large, shiny brass elevator.   It was made of brass and shined because Hitler was both claustrophobic and afraid of heights.  We rode up the elevator with over 30 other people, but Hitler would only ride with 5 others because the back-up elevator could only hold 6 and he wanted to make sure he made it down.  Nice.

Kehlsteinhaus is now a privately owned restaurant so there are a lot of tables and such in it.  However, the wood paneling, lighting, and marble fire place (complete with chipped corner due to Allied troops souvenir seeking) are all original. 

Due to his fear of heights, Hitler only went to the Eagles Nest about 10 times and he didn’t stay for very long any of the times.  The most significant event that occurred there was that the French ambassador to Germany, André François-Poncet, was hosted there in October of 1938.  François-Poncet was leaving Germany after his warnings to the French government of Hitler’s plans were ignored.  The Eagles Nest was largely used to impress and intimidate people such as François-Poncet. 

Kehlsteinhaus was higher up on the same mountain as Hitler’s summer home, Berghof.  Hitler had a house, barracks, and even a school just a little ways down the mountain.  These were all destroyed in an Allied bombing raid in April of 1945.  The Eagles Nest was left untouched, but according to our tour guide, reasons differ as to why.  Some say, it was foggy and the pilots didn’t see it.   Others say the pilots felt it didn’t really matter.  It was ultimately saved due to the fact that Hitler didn’t really ever use it and so the connection to him wasn’t really there. 

My dad and I hiked around the mountain a little bit before we were packed into the elevator to descend. 

Next on our itinerary for the day was the Hohensalzburg Fortress.  The fortress is probably one of the most recognizable landmarks in Salzburg as it sits on a giant hill in above the old part of the city.  Construction started in the 11^th century and continued until 1681.  When you take the audio guide tour, you see models of it at various stages of development. 

We took the Funicular up the hill because it was faster and drier and the all inclusive ticket (up and down and the fortress) is only 10 euro.  In trying to find the audio guide pick-up point, we did a quick circle of the fortress’s interior.  Then we started our tour of the inner rooms.  We started out in a room that was either part of the kitchens or the dungeons and then headed into the torture chamber with the prerequisite hooks and chains. 

From there we headed up Reck Tower, the highest tower in the fortress with great views from all sides of the surrounding town (including a retirement home that looks like a castle).  Next you see the state apartments.  These rooms are lined with painted wooden panels and one room has an amazing stove from 1501.  There is also a toilet.  Hey, everybody poops. 

From the state apartments you head down a really, really long hallway and see the Salzburg Bull, a barrel organ from 1502.  Apparently it is extremely loud and was used in connection with church services. 

Once the audio guide tour was complete, we went to the Fortress Museum.  It shows the military history of Salzburg over hundreds of years.  By the time we made it through the museum, we were done so we headed back down to the funicular.  We stopped at the pretzel stand again and then sat for awhile to watch a presentation of a reading of Babar with orchestral accompaniment.  We were there during the Salzburg Festival, which has public showings of operas, orchestras, and other shows that people might not otherwise get to attend on a giant outdoor screen. 

Eventually we made it back to our hotel and finished up day 2.