Berchtesgaden, Germany

Just across the border from Salzburg lies an alpine ski region famous for its mountaintop Nazi retreat.  Hitler's head PR person capitalized on his love for this region by trying to show that the native Austrian was actually German at heart.  The Fuhrer spent a third of his time in power leading from this region which made it the second seat of the Nazi regime.

In April 1945 the Allied bombing leveled most of the houses and town leaving behind only the intricate tunnel system--intended to serve as a last resort for the regime as the Allies close in-- and a small tea house dubbed "Hitler's Eagle's Nest" by a visiting diplomat in the late 1930's.

We decided to hire a tour guide since the area required both a driving tour and a deep background in the location of the sites. (Despite my own research and reading, I never would have found most of the history Tom pointed out for us.)

He drove us through the area describing how the Nazi's took over the town by forcing the residents out and pointing out where all the infrastructure like housing for SS families, schools, stores, etc had been positioned.  (Tom, a thirty-something Windsor native, spent the last decade studying this part of history.  He has traveled extensively throughout Germany interviewing anyone who knew Hitler or who lived in the town at the time.)

He then took us to a hotel built long before the War and still standing, that had an entrance down to the tunnel system.

He explained how the Nazis positioned three gun stations - two people per station -  at each corner in case of an invasion.  Emily is showing where the lookout would stand.

Then a gun would sit in this hole prepared to kill the invader.

He then took us up to where Hitler's house stood.  The Germans planted trees and attempted to hide the area to prevent extremists from making it a place to which to pilgrimage.

Below was once part of the walkway into the house.  Tunnels lay beneath the ground here.

This was the view from his great window in front of his house.

Tom showed us pictures to help us see what it once looked like.

Emily is walking on the retaining wall of the former residence.

We ended the tour a the document center - one of three throughout Germany.  It explained the history of the site and offered a concise overview of Nazi history.