The history bug had only been with me a few years and even after majoring in it in college I still did not know that much about World War II. Most of us had read William Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich or at least its excepts as we entered the real world. I regret not knowing about Berchtesgaden. It was so close. If only I had made a right turn east to Salzburg on my way to Munich. Reading the memoirs of Albert Speer many years later did much to spark my interest. I remember one particular picture of him in his occasional twilight strolls with Adolf Hitler through the snow shoveled paths up to the Tea House (Eagle’s Nest).
Berchtesgaden lies high above Salzburg on a mountain located so far south you’d think it was in Austria. Maybe it’s just me, but the Berghof reminded me of one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses: elongated, flat below a low pitched roof, and cantilevered with that bold giraffe pattern rock facade common in the Ozarks. Its expansive terrace hosted for the most part Hitler’s domestic gatherings including his architectural alter ego, Albert Speer, and, of course, Eva Braun who recorded their happier times on film. Heinrich Himmler, Herman Goering, and Joseph Goebbels dropped by occasionally and even Neville Chamberland and Lloyd George made an appearance. I particularly remember the huge windows with their Alpine vistas through which there was that blood red sky apparition on June 21, 1941 the night before the invasion of Russia. The Berghof was packed with paintings, mementoes like initialed wine glasses, and even Hitler’s special bound phone book. Much was lost to G.I.’s who bragged about the looting. I believe the art and architecture of the Third Reich should not be forgotten because it’s part of history. I don't believe in book burning either.
The Allies must have known Hitler was in Berlin by the time of the British bombing of Berchtesgaden in March, 1945. You can see the terrible and needless devastation on the Internet. Finally, in 1953 the rest was blown up. The Fuehrer Bunker and Chancellery met the same fate with the latter’s red marble going to Moscow’s subways and war monuments. I’m sure the draconian measures had something to do with the post-war allied terms of occupation that feared the creation of a pilgrimage site for Skin Heads and Neo-Nazis. However, the Russians preserved Petrodvorets, Peter the Great’s Palace in St. Petersburg and Moscow rebuilt its Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The French mob did not destroy Versailles and Peking retains its imperial palaces even after Mao.
I’d like to put Berchtesgaden on my Bucket List, but I’d probably be disappointed with its new tourist traps and hotels festooned with microwave towers. The less adventurous can view on DVD The Private Film Collection of Eva Braun or The Eagle’s Nest: Hitler’s Secret Center of Power reasonably purchased through International Historic Films, www.IHFfilm.com. On Hitler’s Mountain is a real (not a novel) account of a local girl who grew up in the area and met Hitler.
