Berchtesgaden –Nazis, royals, lakes, and mountains

Following his early release from Landsberg prison in 1924, Adolf Hitler acquired a house – the Berghof – in the beautiful Berchtesgaden area. After the Nazis grabbed power in 1933, locals – whether party members or not – were forced off their land as most other senior Nazi leaders built country retreats here too. In a sense, Berchtesgaden became a second Berlin as far as the concentration of power was concerned. Many of the pre-war film footage of Hitler with families and children were shot here.

Apparently, Hitler enjoyed a good lunch – sans alcohol for himself but he did not deny his guests. They were probably wise not to take too much themselves, as after lunch they generally strolled over to a kind of teahouse where Hitler went into a monologue that could go on all afternoon. Occasionally, he talked himself to sleep with the other senior Nazi leaders sitting around quietly until he wakes up again later in the afternoon or early evening.

At the end of the Second World War, the allies bombed the area and most of the buildings were destroyed. Following the war, the area was used by the USA Army as a recreation area and once the land came back under the control of the Bavarians, there was little enthusiasm to have such prime mountain estate turned into a museum. Furthermore, in Germany there is always the fear that places associated with the Nazi leaders will become an attraction to neo-Nazis.

However, in 1999, a large documentation center opened behind the bus station, from where buses leave for the top of the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest). It consists mostly of panels with information, photos, maps, and graphics explaining the Nazi period with special emphasis on the Berghof’s role in the Nazi leaders’ lives. Virtually all information is in German only but useful audio guides are available in several other languages.

Although this exhibition is interesting, it adds little to what you can easily find in a variety of books. Visiting the huge bunker complex behind the center is more interesting. The Nazis constructed a huge complex of tunnels to provide safe passage to the party leaders should the area be bombed. When the air raids came at the end of the war, the complex was virtually deserted with no major Nazi leaders present. The bombproof bunkers survived the raids largely intact although many tunnels collapsed. Only a small section of the bunker complex is open to the general public and information provided is relatively scant. However, it is still well worth seeing.

Apart from the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest), the other building in the area that survived from the 1930s is the station in Berchtesgaden. Most of the Nazi entourage arrived by train so Nazi star architect Albert Speer was called on to design a suitable station building. Today it is considered one of the best surviving examples of civil architecture from the Nazi era.

Approaching the Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bavaria, it is easy to see what was the attraction of the place to Bavarian King Ludwig II, as well as numerous others before and after him. To the south of the lake, the horizon is filled with the beautiful Bavarian Alps and the lake itself is bright blue even on this not necessarily perfectly sunny day. Scouting his kingdom for a suitable location for his third fantasy palace, Ludwig’s eyes fell upon Herrenchiem Island, one of the two large islands in the lake. He duly acquired the land and spent some time in the former monastery building, now a museum, while construction of his Versailles-inspired palace progressed. Although this lavish palace was never completed – he barely finished twenty rooms by the time finances and his mysterious death interfered – millions have since visited to see this superlative fantasy.

Ludwig II was obsessed with his namesake French King Louis XIV although in contrast to the Sun King he had limited talent and even more limited political power. Being a constitutional monarch and especially after Bavaria lost its political independence in Bismarck’s unified Germany, Ludwig was mostly stuck in his own dream world of architectural fantasies. Unable to be Louis XIV, he decided to build a palace inspired by Versailles. Out of necessity, it had to be smaller but it was going to be more lavish and actually ended up with a hall of mirrors larger than the original. The twenty rooms here cost Ludwig more than his other two fantasy castles – Linderhof and the more famous Neuschwanstein – together.

It is a pleasant 10-minute stroll from the ferry landing past a former monastery building (now a hotel and art museum) and mostly in the shade to the palace. Admission is by guided tour only – English tours are frequent – and includes most of the rooms that were completed by King Ludwig. The most impressive is of course the Hall of Mirrors but other detailing is also worth noting. The Meissen-porcelain chandeliers are one-offs – the molds were destroyed by royal guards and inspectors as soon as the pieces were finished. The king preferred to dine alone and his dining table could be hoisted up from a lower floor completely set allowing him to eat in peace without waiters and staff hovering around.

While waiting for a tour, visitors can explore the adjacent museum at will. It focuses on King Ludwig’s life and has numerous items including clothing that belonged to him. It also has some stage models – he was a patron of the art and particularly attracted to Wagner and his monumental operas – as well as models and drawings of further fantasy castles that he wanted to erect. Some of these would have made even Neuschwanstein look unambitious and dull.

Admission to the island is free and visitors can roam at will but on foot only – cars, bicycles, and dogs are banned from this little piece of paradise.

Kehlsteinhaus generally does not say much to foreign visitors but that is this very popular and well-known sight’s original name. Kehlsteinhaus is also what the Nazi’s called it as it was a house (Haus) built on the top of the 1,834-m (6,000-ft) high Kehlstein peak. The name Eagle’s Nest only came later, courtesy of the allies, and almost certainly only after the Second World War.

It was Hitler’s habit of strolling to a tea house after lunch that gave Martin Borman the idea of the Nazi Party giving Hitler a house at the peak of the Kehlstein mountain as a fiftieth birthday present. By this time, there were little difference between the party’s bank account and the nation’s treasury so Borman need not bother himself with budgets or spending controls. What the "party" gave Hitler was an amazing feat of engineering. The road from the Berghof, where the party leaders had their houses in the valley, went 6.5 km (3.9 miles) up the mountain, climbing 700 m (2,296 feet) in the process with just one single hair needle turn. From the upper bus station, a tunnel was carved 124 m (404 ft) through the rock before an elevator lifts visitors a further 124m (404ft) straight to the building near the top of the mountain.

Hitler was touched by the gesture but did not like the building much. He used it very seldom and although it was generally referred to as a diplomatic house, as he once met an Italian delegation there, it never really had much of a purpose, as Hitler preferred to return to his old habit of strolling over to his tea house. Officially, Hitler – who fancied himself quite the engineer – thought that the elevator mechanism on top of the building would serve as a lightening rod and kill him and other Nazi leaders while using the lift. However, there are also indications that Hitler suffered from vertigo and did not like the overhangs – even today you can easily fall to your death a few paces from the house as Germans generally feel not falling of a mountain should be the mountain goers responsibility and safety railing is kept to a minimum. Furthermore, Hitler possibly thought that this building would be a natural target to British bombers. Ironically, when the allies did bomb the Nazi leaders’ Berghof complex, the Kehlsteinhaus was not damaged as it was either too small too hit or considered too insignificant to target.

Following the Second World War, the Kehlstein was used by the USA Army as a recreational area. Senior officers could use the elevator – the same one from the 1930s is still in use – while juniors had to hike from the parking lot.

Visiting the building is easy but you need to get the logistics right. Special narrow buses – the only vehicles allowed on the mountain road – depart frequently from the bus station behind the Documentation Center. When arriving at the mountain station, you need to reserve your return bus time before going in the tunnel to the elevator. Ignore the recommended times, unless you want to go for quite a hike or take a full meal – it is hard to spend more than an hour at the top.

After the 124-m walk into the mountain, the elevator zips you the further 124m to the top of the mountain in 41 seconds. The building now houses a restaurant – we only had drinks here as the food apparently depends on the chef’s mood – and apart from a few photo panels, nothing reminds of the Nazi era. Only an English guided tour is allowed but needs to be booked in downtown Berchtesgaden – the last thing the locals want is for the house to be used as a shrine of any kind by neo-Nazis.

The views are amazing and the main reason to come here. It is a short walk to the top of the peak although safety railing is conspicuous in its absence. In late October, there was already some snow and ice to make things slippery.

The Kehlsteinhaus, www.kehlstein.info, can be visited from mid-May to October if the road remains free from ice and snow.

The Königssee (King’s Lake) is one of Germany’s loveliest Alpine lakes. It is also one of the cleanest with water of drinking water quality.

We first saw the lake from the Kehlstein peak when visiting Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. From high up in the mountains it is easy to appreciate this lake’s lovely location. It is not that big – only 8 km (6.4 miles) long by up to 1.2 km (0.7 miles) wide but up to 190 m (600 foot) deep – but is fjord-like and almost completely surrounded by mountains. The Watzmann, at 2,713 m (8,899 ft) Germany’s second highest mountain but with a much more memorable profile than Zugspitze (2,962 m), at times drops straight into the lake with a 1,800-m (6,000-ft) sheer cliff wall rising up from the lake. These rock walls make it impossible to hike around the lake. The few tiny land enclaves between the lake and the rocks are only accessible by electric boat or by climbing the mountains (and by walking on the few occasions that the lake freezes over in winter).

Seeing from the mountains the lovely lake as well as the tiny St Bartholomä chapel that would be our destination really got us excited for our late afternoon trip on the lake. However, the first part of the trip is far from the natural beauty promised from afar. We entered the national park via a monstrosity of a gate that reminds more of the entrance of a toll road on a busy commuter highway. Visiting in the off-season allowed us to easily find parking in the huge parking lot but thereafter we had to struggle through a large commercial area with garish souvenir shops and unappealing restaurant the likes I had never before or since seen in Germany. I had previously seen numerous similar situations in Japan where you have to make it past the rows of vending machines and the most hideous shops before being required to mentally tune out these disturbances and enjoy a small area of often outstanding natural beauty.

We kept faith and were not disappointed. The lake is simply stunningly beautiful, the water crystal clear, and the air fresh. The electric boat sailed serenely quiet towards our destination. The guide pointed out in unashamedly Bavarian only a few notable sights without ruining the trip with constant banter. About halfway towards St Bartholomä, the boat stopped for a few moments allowing the guide to demonstrate the perfect echo of the appropriately named Echo Wall. A few notes on his trumpet were answered perfectly by the mountains. The cruise resumed; the guide explained the trumpeting is not included in the fare and blowing one makes one thirsty. Trinkgeld (literally drinks money) is duly collected and split equally between the captain, trumpeter, and “the colleague in the mountains.”

Moments before landing, the boat leaned sharply to the right as everyone tried to capture an image of the chapel for those few seconds when all three round apses are in perfect symmetry. There is not that much to see at the landing. Taking in the chapel takes only a few minutes and you cannot wander off much before heading into the mountains. Fortunately, the former monastery now houses a large guesthouse serving mostly Bavarian cuisine. We had a fine meal but had to rush to catch one of the last boats – miss the last one of the day and you are in for a cold night or will have to pay around €200 to charter a special one to come and collect you.

Berchtesgaden is lovely located in a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides. The town itself is pretty but it is really the mountain surroundings that lift it above the average to one of the most popular holiday destinations in Germany. It is a year-round destination with excellent winter sports facilities and equally fine hiking and cycling opportunities in warmer seasons. Although natural beauty is the main draw, it also has a few cultural and historical sights and if these do not suffice, marvelous Baroque Salzburg is only a twenty-minute bus ride away.

The small old town is pretty and the constant backdrop of the Alps enhances the atmosphere. In all honesty, the indoor sights here should be reserved only for a very rainy day. They are fine but the natural beauty of the area is simply so much more impressive. The Schloss was a residence of the Wittelsbachs, Bavaria’s former ruling family, up to the late twentieth century and although a fine palace, what is on offer compares badly to say the Residenz in Munich that charges the same admission of €7.

One of the most photographed sights in Berchtesgaden is the small pilgrim’s chapel Maria Gern. Driving there from downtown is quite a joy – the route is well signposted but roads are small and winding going through beautiful suburbs and wooded areas. The parking lot at the chapel is minuscule but that turned out to be less of a disadvantage than envisaged. The chapel is minuscule too and the interior can only be seen through the railed-off portal. It can literally be seen in a few minutes and it is the lovely location more than anything inside that is the main attraction.

The best Alpine views can be enjoyed from the Roßfeld Panorama Straße – a toll road just outside Berchtesgaden that is the highest public road in Germany. Ample parking opportunities allow drivers to enjoy the views in safety and also to stroll around in the mountains and forests.

Back in the valley, just below the Watzmann peak is the small village Ramsau. It has typical Alpine architecture using ample amounts of wood in all buildings. Streams are guided and the local church has a location as lovely as Maria Gern but without the parking problems. The restaurant just above the church serves local cuisine as well as coffee with huge cakes.