Memories Linger in Spectacular West German Resort : Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest Still Draws Berchtesgaden Crowds

The surrounding landscape is one of the most spectacular vacation areas in Europe, with snow-covered mountain peaks, fiord-like lakes and broad Alpine meadows. But tourists often save their questions about skiing or hiking until later.

As hotel keeper Hugo Geiger puts it, “When guests arrive, their first question often is not, ‘Where’s my key?’ but, ‘Where is Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest?’ ”

Berchtesgaden gained international notoriety as the site that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler chose as his second home and military nerve center away from Berlin, from which he directed his forces in World War II.

The Hitler connection pains Geiger, whose family has run a hostelry here for a century, for he is justly proud of the natural attractions of the Berchtesgaden corner of southeastern Germany.

“Berchtesgaden has been known for its natural beauty, long before Hitler,” said Geiger, who is a youthful-looking 61. “After all, he didn’t bring the beauty with him here.”

Unfortunately, in the view of the local people, Hitler did bring notoriety.

Mountaintop ‘Eagle’s Nest’

Over the years, the Nazis built a vast complex of buildings surrounding Hitler’s house, known as the Berghof in Obersalzburg a couple of miles away, topped off by the “Eagle’s Nest,” a lookout perch high on Kehlstein Mountain, almost 6,000 feet up, overlooking Germany and Austria.

Today, Berchtesgaden is a favorite resort, winter and summer, of Germans and foreigners alike, particularly American servicemen, who are guests at the five recreational hotels set up for them in the area.

In fact, there is a U.S. Armed Forces Accommodation Center just across from the railroad station in the center of the Alpine community.

“This was an R&R; (rest and recreation) center for Hitler just like it is for us,” said Staff Sgt. Donald Phillips, a member of a U.S. Army engineers outfit based in Schweinfurt.

“This is my third Army tour in Germany and I’ve always wanted to see the place where Hitler operated. It’s really something.”

‘Bavarian Redoubt’

Such was the reputation of Hitler’s stronghold here in the so-called “Bavarian Redoubt” that the U.S. 101st Airborne Division and the French 2nd Armored Division were assigned to capture Berchtesgaden, which may have diverted them from proceeding farther east into Czechoslovakia.

“What they found here was not really a fortress,” recalled Hugo Geiger, who was an officer in Germany’s crack 1st Mountain Division during the war.

“There were a lot of buildings with underground tunneling, but no real defensive fortifications as such. The Americans met no resistance here. And, of course, Hitler and some of his aides who had houses here were in Berlin.”

It was in the early 1920s when Hitler discovered Berchtesgaden after his imprisonment for the abortive putsch of 1923. He settled in nearby Obersalzburg because of its beauty--it had long been patronized by artists, scholars and socialites--and its proximity to the Austrian border in case he had to skip across.

Berchtesgaden had originally been a settlement of Augustinian monks, and came under the rule of the House of Wittelsbach and then the king of Bavaria. The castle and square remain the centerpiece of the town today.

Hitler’s Private Chalet

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, he acquired a private chalet in Obersalzburg with a lovely view of the mountains behind green meadows, then known as the Wachenfeld House.

But his frequent presence meant the setting up of a second political headquarters, and the quiet of the area was soon shattered by new construction and the hordes of people who came to see the Fuehrer.

Hitler’s house, now called the Berghof, was greatly enlarged.

A new complex of buildings sprouted under the direction of Hitler’s party chief, Martin Bormann.

Other Nazi leaders sought to build chalets near Hitler’s: Bormann erected one, as did Marshal Hermann Goering, and Armaments Minister Albert Speer.

Frequent visitors included Deputy Fuehrer Rudolf Hess, Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

SS Bodyguards

A network of administrative support buildings and barracks to house cooks, drivers and SS bodyguards was built at Obersalzburg, which came to resemble one large construction site.

Direct communications were established between the complex and the chancellery in Berlin.

Bormann also converted the old Platterhof Hotel into a modern place to put up important visitors. Other hotels were built to accommodate ordinary Germans from all over the country who made pilgrimages in the summer to reside near Hitler and get a glimpse of him during his noontime public appearances.

Youth organizations also came in large groups to be greeted by Hitler at the Berghof in Obersalzburg.

Hitler enjoyed entertaining in the mountains: His hostess was his mistress, Eva Braun.

Hitler’s guests here were the Duke of Windsor, King Boris of Bulgaria, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, among other European leaders. Hitler liked to take them on excursions to the Koenigsee, the Alpine lake just south of Berchtesgaden.

Birthday Present for Hitler

As a present for Hitler’s 50th birthday in 1939, Martin Bormann decided to construct the Eagle’s Nest high on the Kehlstein, and a small army of workers labored day and night, winter and summer, to complete the massive engineering project: a road carved out of the side of the mountain, an elevator to the top, and the aerie itself.

The Eagle’s Nest was to be a study and restaurant for the Fuehrer and VIP guests but, despite the publicity, Hitler visited the place only four or five times, mainly because he could not stand the dizzying heights.

“Hitler didn’t like really high places,” said hotelier Geiger.

During the war, underground bunkers and tunnels were constructed, with plain rooms for troops but wood-paneled, richly carpeted furnished rooms, baths, and kitchens for Hitler, Bormann and Goering.

There was even an underground room for Hitler’s Alsatian guard dogs.

Attempt to Catch Hitler

In the final days of the war, an Allied air attack, designed to catch Hitler and his staff here, damaged or destroyed much of the Obersalzburg complex on April 25, 1945. But Hitler and his staff were in Berlin.

Hitler’s house was gutted but the walls remained standing.

A few days later, the remaining SS troops torched most of the remaining buildings before the arrival of Allied forces.

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne scrawled their names under the huge, now-empty, picture window of Hitler’s Berghof.

Two famous tourists at the Eagle’s Nest in the summer of 1945 were Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mark Clark.

In 1952, to ensure that the ruins at Obersalzburg did not become a Nazi shrine, the Bavarian government ordered the buildings destroyed with explosive charges.

They were obliterated, although the vast network of tunnels underneath remained mostly intact.

Hotel Reconstructed

However, the Platterhof Hotel was reconstructed and renamed the Gen. Walton Walker Hotel, after the American soldier killed in the Korean War, and it is now a hostelry for U.S. servicemen and their families.

The Eagle’s Nest, which was not damaged in the war, remained in place because the Bavarian state government decided to convert it into a dramatic teahouse, open during the summer, for tourists visiting Berchtesgaden.

Today, what is left of the complex includes the Walker hotel and a souvenir store as well as the underground bunkers, which visitors can see on tours. Tourists also can take buses up to the Eagle’s Nest.

Much of the surrounding area has been turned into a national park, and a fine ski run has been constructed down Jenner Mountain.