Hitler's Eagles Nest

Hi Jeff,

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes to Eagles Nest.

My wife and I visited Eagles Nest as a day trip from Salzburg in 2008. It was an amazing place with spectacular views. The building itself wasn't very impressive to me other than it's historical presence but the elevator ride up is pretty cool.

As a huge WWII history buff you should definitely go. If you watched Band of Brothers there is a scene from there.

Being 35 minutes from Salzburg I'm not sure if you need to spend the night unless you want to go on the lake. Here is information on Cable Cars: http://www.berchtesgadener-land.com/en/come-view/cable-cars

Helder
San Diego, CA

I just got done watching a number of YouTube videos on the Eagle's Nest. I was surprised to learn the Hitler rarely visited the Eagle's Nest. Most of the pictures of Hitler that I thought were taken from the Eagle's Nest were actually taken at the Obersalzberg which was below the Eagle's Nest and no longer exists.

I recommend that you do a search on YouTube on "Obersalzburg" and "Eagle's Nest" and determine for yourself. In the 70's I did some sightseeing in the Obersalzburg area and found some interesting WWII ruins. In looking at some recent videos, they are no longer there.

The view from the Eagle's Nest is really great, but like I said Hitler rarely visited it. I read somewhere that he only visited it on 4 occasions. The YouTube videos that I liked the most were the "Then and Now" type videos.

Weather may decide for you. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself at least two full days in any Alpine location as a hedge. So, you could possibly visit Kehlsteinhaus (the proper name for what is known in the English-speaking world as the "Eagle's Nest") and Königsee in one day, but bad weather would make an ascent up to Kehlsteinhaus a waste of time. If you're not there for hiking, otherwise, there's not too much else in Berchtesgaden to visit. The main street doesn't take long at all to see and the rest of the town consists mainly of chalets and hotels.

on a beautiful day, with a car we managed to fit in a tour of eagles nest in the morning, then drove to Konigsee (only down the road) did the lake tour ( great) then drove back up towards eagles nest and did the Rossfeld panorama road. WOW what a day. all highly recommended. and all close together.
we were staying in Berchtesgaden and loved the area. ( we are going back again in May - enough said)
we had visited the document centre the day before.
given your interest, if you get a nice day definitely do both the document centre and eagles nest. they use the same car park (you leave from the car park and catch special buses up to eagles nest)
if the weather is bleak, then forget eagles nest but the document centre is not weather dependant.
lake konigsee is well worth doing, but once again a nice day makes the difference.
the town of berchtesgaden, while small, has some nice painted buildings and there is a salt mine nearby ( we did not tour it, so can't comment)

hope this helps.

Hi,

If you're a "huge WWII history bluff," don't just stay in Bavaria/Austria to track down those related sites. Any interest in WWI? If you want to see sites on WW2, especially military sites, I would suggest going to Berlin (numerous sites) and Potsdam to be sure. Other places the Reichswald near Kleves, Remagen, Vossenack, Seelow, Kiel, etc. Will you have rental car to get out out to the sites in the villages.

I went to the Eagles Nest this past May. I was staying in St. Johann im Pongau (south of Salzburg) for a week. We checked the weather report and went on the one sunny day. It was very interesting. If the weather isn't good, I wouldn't bother. It's always good to have a Plan B.

Jeff,

I may have missed it, but when is this trip taking place? That will have a bearing on whether you're able to visit the Eagle's Nest, as the narrow road is only open from about May to October (depending on whether there's snow on the road).

I believe Hitler only visited the Eagle's Nest a few times as he was claustrophobic. I believe that's why the elevator is mirrored.

When visiting that area, you might consider taking one of the tours from *Eagle's Nest Historical Tours". It will likely be a bit pricey but as a "huge WWII history buff", you'll learn far more about the history and will have a more rewarding and interesting visit with an exceptional guide.

In addition to the Eagle's Nest, you can also visit the Dokumentation Centre & Bunkers which are just above Berchtesgaden. As I recall, the displays are all in German, but they do offer Audioguides which can be set to English. Only a portion of the huge Bunker complex has been renovated for visitors, but it provides an interesting glimpse into the history. I believe the Dokumentation Centre is included with the Eagle's Nest tours.

In one of the small squares in Berchtesgaden, there's a commemoration to their citizens that perished in both WW's painted on the side of a building. As someone from "the other side", it felt a bit strange to think about that.

There's also a Salt Mint that can be toured in Berchtesgaden. You could easily spend a full day in that area.

Thank so much everyone for all the detais. And to clarify, we will have a rental car and will be visiting late-May. Sounds like there is plenty to do in the area! If we are only staying one night in Berchtesgaden, any good hotels to recommend?? Budget would be capped at around 150€ for a hotel. I have a couple highlighted in my tour books, including the Alpenhotel Fischer. Has anyone stayed there?

Also I should have mentioned this trip is our honeymoon so I can only sneak in a few WWII spots.

Very excited to tour the area, thanks again for the help gang!

Jeff

Jeff,

Congratulations and hope you have a wonderful honeymoon!

One question though - are you renting the car in Germany or Austria? If renting in Germany and then driving into Austria, you'll have to purchase the Highway Tax Vignette or risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!

I visited in early June on a cloudy day. There are two distinct parts, the Documentation Center/Bunkers and the "Eagles Nest" (a nickname given by the Americans at the end of the war) to what the Germans name Kehlsteinhaus.

Eagles Nest (house and road) was built by one of Hitler's inner circle as a present. What I was told (it was foggy so no point to taking the expensive ride up): The road up is said to be an engineering marvel. The view at the top is nice. The Allies destroyed nearly the whole thing; a restaurant was subsequently built as a tourist attraction. There is a bit of the original building remaining. In short, the reasons to go to the top are the view and the road itself.

The Documentation Center is well worth a two-hour visit. It's very well done, explains how the town of Obersalzberg went from a summer resort to Hitler's HQ, including a film with interviews of some of the town's then-residents who remember the Hitler years and describe the changes over the years. It also documents in detail the rise of nazism, the various methods used, the insidious propaganda. Then there are the bunkers - something that needs to be seen, not described. This is anything but a tourist trap. No gift shop, no souvenirs, though there are some books for sale.

Get to the Documentation Center when they open. Find out the time schedule for the ride up to Kehlsteinhaus and back down again. The Center is on one side of the parking lot, the ticket booth and departure for the ascent are on the other side. (There may be a gift shop there). With a car, you should be able to do that in the morning and still have enough time for the Königsee.

Another overlooked "gem" is the Salzburger Frielichtmuseum, about 25-30 km from Berchtesgaden.

As I understand it, the nickname "Eagles Nest" was coined by a French diplomat who, being there with the view said, "this really is the nest of eagles."

with a car we managed to fit in a tour of eagles nest in the morning

You can't get to the Eagles Nest by car, the road up is a private, one-lane road. You can only go by special buses which go up together and down together so there is no passing.

I've heard that Hitler went there more times, maybe a dozen, but he definitely was there, and that was what made being in that building so eerie to me. I've been there three times and only once was it clear enough for a great view, but that was not the most important thing to me. It was being in a building with such historical significance.

Most of the pictures ... were actually taken at the Obersalzberg which
was below the Eagle's Nest and no longer exists.

Obersalzberg still exists, although not as it did in the 30's and 40's when most of the top nazis had homes there and there was a big SS base. The pictures were taken at the Berghof, Hitler's home, which no longer exists,

I would just like to echo the suggestions that you have received. The Eagle's Nest and the Konigsee in fine weather and the Documentation Center in any weather are worth a visit. Even my wife, who is not a WWII buff, enjoyed the Documentation Center. I would think that with an early start you might be able to visit all three in one day.

As a WWII buff you probably have discovered this website:
http://www.thirdreichruins.com/bgaden.htm

It does a good job of covering Nazi involvement in the Berchtesgaden area and, in fact, what happened in the rest of Germany. It will help you narrow down the sights/sites that you will want to visit on your trip.

The Berchtesgaden sites and Salzburg are so close together that one hotel will cover both locations. We have stayed at the Kugelmuhle Gasthaus in Marketschellenberg, more or less halfway between the two, and found it inexpensive and the owners to be very pleasant and helpful. The rooms are clean and if you ask for a south facing room you will get a great view of the mountains.

There is a great road from Salzburg to Pfronten called the Alpenstrasse. It is very scenic passing through many cute little towns, past pretty lakes and, of course, the Alps will be just off to your left. It will be slower than the autobahn but so much more scenic. It will also take you right past Neuschwanstein. I strongly recommend this route - although a lot of its charm is lost in heavy rain or fog.

may I suggest you also look at staying at a pension/guesthouse in the Berchtesgaden area, rather than a hotel. there are plenty of them and the price ( that includes breakfast generally) is some of the cheapest accomodation you will find in that part of europe. not sure why they are so cheap compared to other areas?
they may be OK with only staying one night.
you get to meet and talk to the local owner and we find it much better than a hotel, in that regard.
if you need any extra info, just ask.