Eagle's Nest - Hitler's Mountaintop Headquarters Today

Bacter's Garden is a pretty little Bavarian town located a stone's throw from the Austrian border during the Nazi period. The city was reserved for the most loyal members of the party. It was actually a private Nazi shrine high in the mountains, about 30 kilometers south of Salzburg in Austria. Berchtesgaden. It is dominated by Germany's third highest mountain, the Watsman, and the nearby Kellstein Mountain, which offers stunning and beautiful views of forested and pastoral valleys with a backdrop of high, rugged granite mountains. Hitler was drawn to this landscape and would spend much of his dictatorship looking down. over the garden of bactus and its beloved citizens from his own

mountaintop

position in the obersauzberg

hitler

had first visited the area in the early 1920s he stayed in inns in the small town of salzburg near the garden From Bechtel he eventually rented and then bought a house of his own, it came to be called Berkoff, this was Hitler's private home and he was very proud to have bought and expanded the property thanks to the royalties from his book Mein Kampf.

The Berkoff, where before the war Hitler would spend six months of each year, held a special party. a place in his heart during the early years during the many periods he spent in obs-salzburg

hitler

enjoyed an almost carefree lifestyle here in peace and comfort he could escape the daily routine of political administration and public duties that did not concern him Gustave Berkoff represented Hitler's character in bricks, mortar and wood, it was where Hitler felt most comfortable and the surrounding area soon became a private community for his closest followers, who were allowed to build their own chalet-style homes, usually close copies of the Berkoff.

It was also Hitler's rest and relaxation area. where he could walk through alpine meadows, pine forests and virtually unguarded mountain trails, visit specially built tea houses high on steep mountains, entertain world leaders, artists, diplomats and musicians. It was also a fully functioning military

headquarters

during the war, from its elevated position Hitler was often seen. Deep in thought on the terrace of the Bearcoff or conversing with his henchmen, including Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, Albert Speer and Martin Bourman, the Bearcath was also the only place where Hitler socialized freely and publicly with his long-time lover, Eva. Brown, before we moved.

Moving on to examine what remains at the top of the Oberzeldsberg, you should note that the area was bombed by the RAF on April 25, 1945, although Hitler was in Berlin, the private Nazi village was devastated and most of the buildings suffered. damage before this attack. Hitler's house had Hitler, who had not been attacked, would reach Berkhoff in two ways: his special Focal Wolf 200 Condor aircraft would land at an airfield about 30 kilometers away and then Hitler would be driven in a convoy of armored Mercedes limousines to Oberzeldsburg through the small mountain. town of oberau the other method was aboard his enormous armored train codenamed america that would arrive at berchtesgaden station the station was built especially to accommodate hitler's train and his large entourage the station has been virtually unchanged since the time of Hitler and still has a huge Nazi-era mural at one end, the swastika inside the white circle of the flag, carefully removed from the station after the war, it was a short drive up the mountain to Berkoff, as cars entered in the Führer's security zone on the road to Berkoff, the first thing visitors would have seen.

Gutsoff was an experimental farm created by Martin Bormann after the war. The complex was taken over by the US Army and converted into a sports golf course and winter ski resort. Today one wing survives as a golf club house that would pass the trips off that visitors would find that the way to hitler's residence was blocked by the main ss guard house across the street with a solid wooden gate here is the same damaged guard house by bombs after its capture by the Americans its stone foundations remain

today

once the RSD and SS guards passed along the road.

Past the Berkoff, there was a pretty stone and wood chalet located at the top of a small elevation above the road. The Bearcoff's entrance hall was lined with cacti in large majolica pots. The dining room was paneled in expensive pine pine panels, but the most famous room was the white-walled great room. low wooden paneling, a wooden lattice ceiling and red carpet, the great hall was where Hitler held his meetings, the guests after being seated on sofas arranged in front of a huge red marble fireplace at one end of the spacious room, A huge picture window dominated one wall giving a wide view across the valley to the mountains beyond and the entire window could be lowered to the ground on good days.

This is the view

today

from the same place where the great hall and window once stood outside, there was a large terrace with colorful umbrellas where Hitler's monuments were located. The intimates rested sunbathing or walked Hitler and his lover Eva Brown, although officially she was staying further down the mountain in Bechtesgarden, at the Berkhoff they had interconnecting rooms with private bathrooms. Hitler's secretaries and assistants also lived inside the house along with various servants and other household staff. necessary to keep the place running efficiently the berkoff has been almost completely erased from the hillside where it once stood, except for a few surviving elements the damage caused by the RAF bombing raid in 1945 was compounded by a fire started by the SS in retreat shortly before the property was captured, the Berkoff was then extensively looted and looted.

It survived until 1952 as a gutted ruin until the West German authorities made the decision to raze the site where it was blown up with high explosives, but some features have survived the destruction, the rear part retaining the walls that held up the hillside behind the Berkoff are intact, giving visitors a sense of the scale of the original building. The only reason these walls were not demolished when the Bavarian government removed the rest of the Berkoff was that, if removed, the entire hillside would slide inward. path below the berkoff site and speaking of paths, the entrance to the main Bearcraft trail still exists.

The large boulders lining the hillside are largely intact at the trailhead, although many have been taken as souvenirs over the years. The great Mercedes would have passed here. Armored Benz 550 and 770k limousines used by Hitler and other Nazi leaders to deposit their passengers outside the Berkoff. Visitors alighted from their cars beneath a flight of stone steps leading up to the house. It was up these steps in the late 1930s that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and former King Edward VIII climbed the remains of these steps which remain today some parts of the original road surface have also survived at the end of the road in front of the Berkoff and under his terrace there was a garage where Hitler's cars were kept.

This was the only part of the house not blown up in 1952 and remained as a ghostly reminder of Hitler's house until it was demolished in 1995. However, a section of its front wall remains today. One wing of Hitler's house was called the Agitation Wing where his adjutants and other staff lived although it disappeared its retaining wall remains intact some features still remain today above the destroyed adjutant wing it is a surviving access point for electrical and cable cables. communication on the hillside above the house another part of the berkoff this bunker still exists. A similar structure is actually a water tank.

Here is the same view in 1945, looking down, the ruined house is clad in white tiles, but has now been sealed with concrete. Hitler was well protected from the possibility of an air attack directly below the Berkoff, 15 to 20 meters. Underground there was a large air raid shelter the shelter was between 80 and 100 meters long with rooms facing either side the passage leading to the shelter hitler's air support staff has been bricked up but i was able to get some images of hitler's private bunker through through a hole in the sealed wall here is a slightly clearer shot using a camera a short distance down the road from the bear stands the hotel zum turken opened as a guest house in 1911 the hotel was a favorite retreat From celebrities such as composer Johannes Brahms and Bavarian and Prussian royalty, the owner was forced to sell it to the Nazis in 1933, when Martin Bourman began the process of expulsion of civilians from the Obersalzberg area.

Later, the tsum turken hotel was the

headquarters

and accommodation block for the bodyguard detachment of hitler's rsd and the ss vac obersalzberg company. It also served as the main telephone exchange for the army high command when Hitler was at Berkoff. 19 RSD officers were stationed at the hotel armed with holstered automatic pistols. One officer always patrolled in front of the Berkoff on a three-hour shift. Another patrolled the buildings in the vicinity while two others patrolled the surroundings between 8 am and 8 pm one was always in his office near the telephone in case of emergency the hotel some turks was repaired after the war and today it is one of the most popular guest houses In the area below the hotel there is an extensive system of bunkers and underground passages built by Martin Bormann, some of them connected to the Berkhoff air raid shelters, which are of course closed to the general public, but for a For a modest price you can explore this underground in depth.

A warren of hallways on the first level beneath the zumturken hotel are a series of cells that were used by the rsd to hold anyone they found within the security zone. Today they are charred and damaged by fire after the British air raid in April 1945. Beyond the hotel the road continued further down the valley a path branched off and led to Bormann's private residence Martin Bormann was Hitler's secretary and he was also in charge of the gauliters the regional governors of germany he was an extremely powerful man who controlled access to hitler and was responsible for much of the construction work carried out in the orbis ellsberg his house was the closest to the berkoff the house suffered Severe damage during the air raid and its ruins were demolished in the early 1950s.

Today only rubble and concrete remain scattered at the base of the hillside through the underground. The bunker system has survived, but is closed to the public. One thing you can see is the emergency exit from the bunker on the opposite side of the road, behind the zumturken hotel, was the ss kazana, a large white barracks complex completed in 1937. This housed more members of the company. Obersalzberg of the SS was actually a battalion that patrolled the entire complex. It consisted of a large parade square surrounded by blocks of barracks, kitchen, mess hall, vehicle maintenance facilities, gymnasium and a staff headquarters building, badly damaged by the British air raid.

The entire complex was demolished in 1951. The basement tunnels and air raid shelters were torn out and filled in during 2001 until a bunker of sorts still exists in the forest behind the Kazana site, opposite the ss casino, which branched off to the left and meandered upward through the thick trees. divided in two with a road leading to Hermann Gerring's private home severely damaged in the air raid it was demolished in the early 1950s the current Kempinski luxury hotel occupies the site the only surviving piece of Goring's house are these steps leading up to guring hill his favorite resting area in his garden which is now part of the hotel gardens the second building associated with the goring is intact it is the operating adjutant where the luftwaffe aid chief lived and worked of hitler, general karl bordenschatz and his staff there was a telephone exchange inside this three-story building it remains intact and is currently a private house turning right on ss casiana a path led to another complex of buildings you pass a shed surviving ss guard that protected the path leading to the

eagle

's

nest

which is located high above the orbit of salzburg on kelstein mountain known today in english as the

eagle

's

nest

the kellstein house is a chalet structure commissioned by boarman in 1938 and presented to hitler on his 50th birthday in april 1939.

The last 124 meters to the top are made inside the mountain via an ornate elevator that was drilled directly through the granite the polished brass elevator and green leather contains expensive Venetian mirrors the central area of ​​the building is called the great hall and there is little change from the war period it is now usedAs a restaurant, a huge Italian red marble fireplace that was a gift from fellow dictator Benito Mussolini dominates the main tea room. The fireplace was badly defaced by American troops in 1945 when they ripped out sections of the marble as souvenirs during the Nazi period. tea was known as the d house or diplomatic reception house moving forward from the entrance gate that guarded the access road to the eagle's nest, a large complex of buildings once stood on what is now a parking lot for buses to the nest From the Eagle, this was the Platterhoff Hotel originally opened in 1877, the Platterhoff was extensively remodeled by the Nazis and converted into a luxurious guest house for visiting dignitaries restored by the US Army in the late 1990s. 1940.

Renamed the General Walker Hotel. The complex was torn down in 2000, although a side building that was used as a restaurant by the US Army until 1995 survives intact in front of the The surviving part of the Plateau Hotel within the forest across the road is the remains of the kamfhausel where Hitler wrote the second part of Mind Kampf after his release from prison in 1925. Demolished by the authorities in the early 1950s, today only the foundations of the chalet remain. There is also the shattered remains of an SS mole guard bunker, which I will talk about later when we visit Hitler's teahouse from the Platterhoff site.

The path leads to the Obersaudsburg documentation center, located inside another surviving building from the Nazi era, the Hoa Girl guest house. This building was used. by Boarman staff and also rebuilt the VIP guest house facilities after the war. The building is now the Obersalzberg documentation center with information on the Nazi period, the Holocaust and World War II. The extensive system of wartime bunker tunnels under the Hurgol is open to the public and includes Borman's underground headquarters, which would be used in case the Germans had decided to make a last stand. In the mountains, all of these tunnels interconnect with others beneath all other important buildings and run for miles beneath the Obersalzberg.

Many still contain mounts and positions for SS machine guns to defend the tunnels from attack. Fortunately for the French and American soldiers who first arrived. the obersalzberg the ss left the premises without resistance following the road that branches around the hill from hoa the girl takes you back outside the berkoff hitler visited the muslina poli tea house almost every afternoon during his stays at the berkoff The walk was less than a kilometer through the Obersalzberg valley to the forested hill of Muslanakop where the circular tea house was built in 1937. Starting out, follow the path a short distance from Berkoff and below the Borman house you will find The SS administration building for the Obersalzberg was destroyed in an air raid in 1945 and today its remains, including parts of its tin roof, are scattered on the side of the road mixed among huge bomb craters filled with water.

The road was mostly wooded and ran for about a kilometer mostly downhill. The road has deteriorated considerably since the Nazi era and in some cases has returned to nature. The tea house, now long gone, was built on the side of a hill and at one point passed a panoramic view of the entire valley surrounded by a wooden railing and with a bench where the führer often sat and He discussed matters of state with his intimates The gazebo is exactly the same as it was during Hitler's time The wooden railings and bench are modern replacements Hitler often fell asleep in the muslin policeman and was almost always carried back to the Berkoff As the rest of his intimates returned on foot in the late afternoon, Hitler's fondness for the Muslim police teahouse contrasted with the more famous Eagle's Nest, which he only visited about 10 times due to its close association with Hitler the Tea.

The house was demolished after the war by West German authorities where the Muslin police teahouse once stood. There is only some scattered debris. The area around the teahouse was heavily, if discreetly, guarded. If you look carefully, you can still find the remains of the house. posts that held up the security fence, but a quarter mile from the lookout is a surviving mole bunker for the SS. These two men's bunkers were designed as shelters during air raids. Originally, there were dozens of these mole bunkers scattered around the Obersalzberg for the SS, but most have been blown up today, only two survive intact and the one near the Muslin police teahouse is a steep slope from the road, such time explaining why they left him while he was examining this bunker.

Something strange happened, an air raid siren went on. in the distance, considering where I was, it was a peculiar experience, give it a listen, so thanks for watching, please subscribe and share and also help support my channel on PayPal and Patreon details in the description box below you.