If Adolf Hitler had had a receipt he would have exchanged the gem at an altitude of 1800 meters. As soon as he stepped into the elevator he was sweating because of the height and he didn’t care much for the view. And yet Martin Bormann had done his best with thirty million euros and four thousand workers. Even though Hitler almost never came there, tourists keep coming to Adolf Hitler’s holiday home. Nowadays the palace is a real attraction. After the American army took over the Eagle’s Nest and took away all valuables, it was opened to the public in 1952. More than half a million now visit Hitler’s holiday home every year. This makes it one of the most visited war sites/monuments in Europe
Address details Eagle’s Nest
The Eagle’s Nest is located on the top of the Kehlstein in southern Germany at an altitude of 1834 meters. The visiting address is:
Salzbergstraße 4583471 Berchtesgaden
Construction
It was Martin Bormann, better known as Hitler’s walking briefcase, who decided to give Hitler a nice gift for his fiftieth birthday. He decided to give him a holiday home that could also serve as a secret hiding place and bunker. As a location he chose the top of the Kelhstein, which, at an altitude of 1,800 metres, offers a beautiful view of the region and the opportunity to see tens of kilometers away.
But construction did not go completely smoothly. To reach the top, a road had to be built through the wooded mountain area. An almost impossible and life-threatening job. But Bormann made more than four thousand workers available to make the impossible . It was therefore a huge job to build the ultimately 2,223 meter long road. Tunnels and razor-sharp bends were constructed to ultimately end up in a parking lot. Six workers were killed during the construction of this road. From this parking lot, a tunnel and a 124-meter-high elevator shaft were built. Six more workers were killed while constructing this shaft. The elevator was equipped with upholstered benches, ventilation and mirrors.
Usage
Thanks to Leni Riefenstahl’s recordings, the house has achieved great worldwide fame. Hitler, however, did not want anything from the house. He suffered from fear of heights, claustrophobia and was afraid of attacks. During the opening of the house until his death, he visited the house only ten times and only when necessary. However, his mistress Eva Braun and her friends stayed here regularly.
After the second World War
In April 1945 there were many Allied bombings on the Obersalzberg. This mountain is located in the German state of Bavaria. The mountain owes this name to the salt mines located at the foot of the mountain. Yet there is still a debate about which country the Eagle’s Nest is located in. Some claim that the war house is in Austria. To go back for a moment: in addition to bombing the Obersalzberg, the Americans also had the plan to demolish the Eagle’s Nest that survived the bombing. At the insistence of the municipality of Bavaria, the house continued to exist under the American condition that everything related to the Nazi past would be erased. As a result, there is nothing left in and around the building that reminds of the past and is therefore purely a commercial attraction. Only at the starting point has a large museum been built in which the complete story surrounding the construction and use of the Eagle’s Nest is told.
Source: Allie Caulfield, Flickr (CC BY-2.0)
A visit to the Eagle’s Nest
Even though the past is almost impossible to see, a visit to the Eagle’s Nest and the surrounding area is definitely worth a visit, because the area in particular still has a number of important buildings from the Nazi era. Bormann’s house is an example of this. The trip to the Eagle’s Nest is strongly discouraged for people with a fear of heights or claustrophobia. The location of the Eagle’s Nest (A) and the starting point of the bus route as well as the place where the tickets must be purchased (B) are shown in map 1. The journey up goes via Kehlsteinstraße and the journey back goes via Eck.
The visit starts at the bottom of the mountain where you can buy tickets for the bus trip up. Here you can also buy tickets for a visit to the above-mentioned museum, which tells you some things about the past of the Eagle’s Nest and the surrounding area. You then embark on the journey to an altitude of 1800 metres. This journey is not entirely without tension and nerve-wracking moments. At some points the road is so narrow that the bus just fits on it and at these points you often look straight down. The high point is halfway up where you look straight down for about 600 metres. The bus driver is kind enough to warn those who prefer to look the other way.
Elevator and view
Once at the top of the parking lot you can already see a nice distance into the distance, but it pays to enter the tunnel as quickly as possible. Once in the elevator, your jaw will drop in amazement. You have probably never seen an elevator that is so beautiful, luxurious and chic. Within a few seconds you are 120 meters higher and you walk along a path to the Eagle’s Nest. You have a beautiful view from the balcony at the front. From here you can see villages more than 1800 meters lower in clear weather.
Source: Florian S., Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)
The view is also beautiful when the mountains are wrapped in clouds. Often the last forty meters, and therefore also the Eagle’s Nest, are just above the clouds. All you see is a beautiful cloud cover and the peaks of other mountains. Unfortunately, we don’t tell you what the weather is like downstairs. It is also possible that you end up in dense fog.
Film and TV
Many documentaries have been made about the Eagle’s Nest. The Eagle’s Nest also appears in documentaries about Adolf Hitler and Martin Bormann. In the series Band of Brothers, the Eagle’s Nest also appears in the last episode.
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