WW II sights in Munich

Lisa, Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the 1923 "Beer Hall" Putsch and then be sure to take in Odeonsplatz. This was considered a sacred location by the Nazis and was where all SS officers and cadets took their oath to the Fuhrer. Stand in the square and face Feldherrnhalle. The narrow street to the left is where the German police fired on the Nazis in Nov of '23 killing several of them but unfortunately missing Adolf (who ran and hid before capture). This is a must on your trip. Have fun!

Hi Lisa, Check out Munich Walking tours. They have a few options that might be helpful. http://www.munichwalktours.de/

You might check out "Dark History Tours" in Munich. They offer some good tours that cover this time period, and they aren't expensive either. http://www.dark-history.eu/20th-century.htm

One of the simplest "trips" is to take your son for a meal at the Hofbrauhaus, which is a beer hall in which Hitler held an number of meetings. and gave many speeches.

Kind of like the rest of Germany, most of the 3rd Reich´s legacy is what´s missing, not what´s there. That being said, one of the few remaining large, intact buildings constructed in the Nazi style is in Munich. I can´t remember if it was the local Gestapo or Luftwaffe HQ. You can´t tour the building, but you can get a good view from the street.

Lisa, Although Dachau is not as "intense" as some of the other camps, it will provide a good overview of how the way the camps operated. It was the first, and used as a model for many of the others. You can either travel there on your own, or take a guided tour (see the web link below). You might also consider a Third Reich Walking Tour as it provides a good overview of the beginning of the Nazi party, and visits many of the relevant locations (including the street mentioned in a previous reply, where a "shootout" ensued and the large building that was intended as a Monument). I believe that was the reason Adolf was imprisoned, which provided him with an opportunity to become an "author" (Mein Kampf). It's unfortunate that you won't have time to visit Berchtesgaden (it's only ~2.5H by train each way). If you don't have time for the Eagle's Nest, you'd still be able to visit the Dokumentation Centre and the Bunkers in the hillside. The displays are all in German, but English-language AudioGuides are provided. There's also a Salt Mine there that can be toured. Happy travels!

This is really an esoteric question, but kind of a pet-peeve of mine... why does everyone on this website call the Kehlsteinhaus the "Eagle´s Nest"? Hitler did have a HQ by that name, but it was in Bad Nauheim, north of Frankfurt.

"This is really an esoteric question, but kind of a pet-peeve of mine... why does everyone on this website call the Kehlsteinhaus the "Eagle´s Nest"? Hitler did have a HQ by that name, but it was in Bad Nauheim, north of Frankfurt." Tom, The Eagle's Nest you refer to was indeed what the Nazi's called the headquarters there and the Nazi's never referred to the Teehaus on the Kehlstein as the Eagle's Nest. However the more famous Eagle's Nest is the one on the summit of the Kehlstein but it is not just the folks on this website who refer to it as the Eagle's Nest. Actually it was a group of Italian World War I veterans who were visiting the Teehaus with Hitler who coined the phrase "Eagle's Nest". Borman first built a small Teehaus for Hitler on a hill just below the Berghof, Hitler's private home. It was later that Borman had the idea to build another Teehaus on the Kehlstein Mountain which was only used a few times by Hitler.
After the war, many press reports incorrectly referred to the Obersalzberg compound and Hitler's private home as the Eagle's nest which was not correct. Only the Teehaus on the summit of the Kehlstein Mountain was then as well as remains today, the Eagles Nest. My source for the Eagle's Nest on the Kehlstein was a book I purchased in 2002 while visiting the Eagle's Nest. The book is titled "History of the Eagle's Nest" by Florian M. Beierl. An excellent account of the history, building of and many other facts including all of the recorded official visits made by Hitler.

In Munich, off the Marienplatz, there is a small, moving monument in memory of a Synagogue that once stood on that space, but was destroyed by the Nazis on Kristalnacht. It's in German and also has some Hebrew on it. People place candles as well as stones/rocks on it (in keeping w/ the Jewish custom of placing rocks on gravestones at cemetaries). I was quite moved by it. I can't recall or find the street/address, but sure someone, especially in the area of the Marienplatz, can point you in the right direction. It's depicted in the 1st 2 pics here: http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/resource/gallery/SYN.htm What an excellent, valuable and important lesson you'll be teaching your son by taking him to Dachau. Germany is a fascinating, vibrant, fun place to visit, for sure....but we can never forget it's monstrously dark history.......

We took the Third Reich tour at Free Munich Walking Tours http://www.newmunichtours.com/daily-tours/third-reich.html We really enjoyed it. A lot of Munich's WWII history and monuments are small and hard to find so without a tour you might miss them. Nuremberg, Germany has the old party rally grounds and we found that very interesting. You can walk around them and go through a good museum. It's about 1.5 hours north of Munich and kind of near Rothenburg.

For the budding WWII student (or anyone for that matter) walking tour of Munich is well worth while and some of the tours can tie into a trip to Dachau. A walk around Munich coupled with what we know today gives one an idea of exactly what happens when a small band of extremists gain enough popular support to make racism, bigotry, homophobia and religious intolerance a national policy. The end, for evreyone involved, was very ugly.