Alpin Castle The Alpin Castle in Obersalzberg (Germany)

If you happen to be in the area, I can only recommend a trip to the Obersalzberg mountain. The Obersalzberg, located in the Bavarian-Austrian border region, was for a long time completely inaccessible to to the public – from the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 until 1996, when American troops cleared their mountain resort there. In the 1930s, leading Nazis like Göring, Bormann and Speer bought mansions next to the cottage Hitler had purchased. They were quite ruthless in doing so. To give an example: A local photographer, Brandner Hansl, complained that the amount of money the Nazis had given him for his shop was too small. Almost immediately, he was deported to the Dachau concentration camp where he spent the next two years. These and similar cases are well-documented by the new research centre which has recently been set up at the Obersalzberg. Large parts of the territory were then sealed off as Hitler´s “Führersperrgebiet” prohibited zone.

Altogether, some 6000 builders worked until the very end of the war to construct the “Alpenfestung” fortress. They built a large bunker into the mountain and constructed two army barracks, an airfield and, in Bischofswiesen, a branch of the chancellory. Last but not least, they also erected the Kehlsteinhaus, referred to as the “Adlerhorst” by the Allies.

The road building work was in itself a major achievement. From where the road ends after 1,700 metres just under the summit, a lift inside the mountain took people right up to Hitler´s house. The whole structure was, contrary to ordinary practice, not built by slave labour but by Italian specialists who actually had half a dozen prostitutes at their disposal. Apparently, no atrocities like torture or murder were committed on the Obersalzberg by the Nazis. The whole site was handed over to the Americans without a fight on the 4th of May 1945. The Lancaster bombers of the Royal Air Force had already, on the 25th of April, hammered the mountain with 1,300 tons of bombs.

After this inferno, all the houses there were damaged. The retreating SS troops and, later on, the American soldiers finished off what had remained. Only the Platterhof, Eva Braun´s former hideout, survived until mid-2000. One of our organisation´s members, Paul Schmidt, recorded the demolition work on camera. At the moment, new parking space is being created there as more and more tourists come to visit the site. Trees grow on Hitler´s former mansion while remnants of the “Alpenfestung” fortress can still be found here and there. According to the historians, general Eisenhower actually changed his plans to march on Berlin as he was concerned about the fortress´s alleged strength. Consequently, he decided to cut off the German troops´ retreat into the “Alpenfestung”. This, in turn, allowed the Red Army to thrust right into the centre of Germany. The locals, though, are not concerned with history. They make a good living by selling Third Reich memorabilia. So, for example, single hairs of Adolf Hitler can be purchased for 2,000 deutschmarks – his personal barber alledgedly pinched them. For those who want to spend more, Nazi furniture is also on offer. If you are interested in caves, the bunker inside the mountain is the place to go. It can be visited for five deutschmarks. Most of the original furnishing has, however, been removed.