Obersalzberg
Kehlsteinhaus ("Eagle's
Nest")
Without a doubt, the most popular
tourist site on the Obersalzberg now is the Kehlsteinhaus. In English, this building is
called the "Eagle's Nest," even though this is not a translation of the German
name (simply "House on the Kehlstein (Mountain)"), and the Germans did not call
it the "Eagle's Nest" (or Adlerhorst or any other such name). This name seems to have been
first applied by British journalist Ward Price, who visited in September 1938,
but was likely made famous by the
visiting French ambassador André François Poncet in October 1938, and was picked up by the Allies.
This building is also often called
"Hitler's Tea House," but that is something of a misnomer. Although Reichsleiter Martin
Bormann was inspired to build the Kehlsteinhaus by Hitler's obvious fancy for the
Teehaus on the Mooslahnerkopf,
and the builders plans referred to the project as the "Teehaus
Kehlstein," Hitler did not use
the Kehlsteinhaus as an afternoon tea house, nor did he visit it regularly. Hitler used the
Kehlsteinhaus only to show off to visiting dignitaries, and he probably did not visit it
himself more than twenty times (at the most), as he did not like the height and
the resulting changes in air pressure, and the perceived dangers of
lightning and the elevator. Bormann himself and Eva Braun did far more entertaining in the
Kehlsteinhaus than did Hitler, who continued to enjoy his afternoon tea and
relaxation in the Teehaus on the
Mooslahnerkopf.
The Kehlsteinhaus was the pinnacle
of Bormann's building mania on the Obersalzberg, literally and figuratively. It was an
engineering marvel of its day -- the house was built on a rocky spur of the
Hoher Göll mountain, some 2700 feet above the Obersalzberg (6017 feet above sea level).
To reach this spur, a mountain road of some four miles
(6.37 km) was blasted into the mountainside,
using only one hairpin curve (switchback), and five tunnels. The road and house were built in only 13
months. The house itself
is reached by a tunnel driven 407 feet into the mountain, at the end of which is a large
brass-paneled elevator that rises 407 feet to the building. This was actually a two-story elevator:
an upper car which stopped on the main level, and a lower car that stopped in the basement for
resupply of the kitchens (this lower car was removed during renovations in the
1950s).
Although the Kehlsteinhaus was a
designated target for the April 1945 Royal Air Force bombing attack (the Allies thought
there might be underground military facilities there, part of the mythical "Alpine
Redoubt"), it was not hit. Apparently it was too small a target, and too difficult to
pick out of the surrounding area from above. After the war the "Eagle's Nest" became a popular
stop for visiting American GIs and other Allied officers and troops (for awhile, only officers were allowed to ride the elevator, and
enlisted men had to use the footpath). Due to intense lobbying by the Berchtesgaden
district administrator, the Kehlsteinhaus was spared from the
1951-52 destruction of Nazi ruins, and was returned to the State of Bavaria (now
run by the Berchtesgaden tourism association). The house was
restored and somewhat modernized, but its basic appearance today is much the
same as during the Third Reich (some changes since 1945 are pointed
out in the photos below). It is now one of the most popular tourist sites in the
area, reached by special bus from the Kehlsteinhaus bus lot on the Obersalzberg, from
May-October. For current information and news see www.kehlsteinhaus.de.
The best published
reference on the Kehlsteinhaus is Florian Beierl's book History
of the Eagle's Nest (Berchtesgaden, Verlag Plenk, 1998, ISBN: 3922590772),
which is highly recommended.
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My guide book to
Third Reich sites in the Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg area has been
published by Fonthill Media.
"Hitler's
Berchtesgaden" is available now at Amazon and other retailers ( the Kindle
version is also available from Amazon). |
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Tunnel and elevator entrance, with
the Kehlsteinhaus above, in the 1940s and as they appear today. The
buildings on either side of the entrance are post-1950. The plaque above
the entrance shows that the project was completed in 1938. |
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Above,
soldiers from the U.S. 101st Airborne Division guard the entrance in
June 1945. My father, U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Delbert R. Walden, took the
photos below in spring 1946 (my father appears in front of the doorway in the
left-hand photo). There was about this same amount of snow present when
the Allied soldiers first arrived in early May 1945. (above left - U.S. National Archives, RG
111SC, 333025; below - collection of G.R. and G.A.Walden) |
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Above
left, a GI guards the tunnel entrance in 1945. The sign proclaims this
entrance was only for officers ranking Major and above - all other ranks
had to climb the footpath to the Eagle's Nest building. The photo below
appeared in a French newspaper in 1945. (U.S.
Army Signal Corps photo collection; Archiv Hotel zum Türken) |
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The outer set of bronze doors
originally had large handles in the shape of lions (the GIs in the
photo above are pushing the doors open with these handles), but these were
taken by souvenir hunters. One is in the hands of the Eisenhower family
today while the other is owned by a private collector in the USA. (U.S.
Army Signal Corps photo collection; private collection) |
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The lion handles were
mounted on the two sets of small holes in triangle shapes. |
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Many Allied soldiers scratched their names and other graffiti into the
bronze doors in 1945. Michael Greenstein of "B'klyn NY" left
his mark on August 5, 1945 (upper left), and a soldier probably from the U.S.
79th Division left the
insignia of his unit (upper right - although this could also be the insignia
of the French 2nd Armored Division ... thanks to Henry Gresham for the
suggestion of the 79th Division). At least one inscription is in
Cyrillic (lower right). |
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Just
inside the outer set of doors, on the right, is a period indicator
showing which direction the elevator was traveling, and its height (the
indicator can be seen between the doors, in the photo on the left). This
lighted indicator still functions - on the right it shows the elevator
is going up, and has reached a height of 80 meters. The elevator was
made by the well-known Otis company. (Note: The original indicator
shown here was replaced ca. 2010.) |
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The entrance portal of
Untersberg marble leads to the tunnel that bores 407 feet into the mountain.
(author's
collection) |
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At the end of
the entrance tunnel is a circular domed waiting room (left) from which one
passes through a pair of bronze doors to enter the brass
lined elevator car for the ride
407 feet up to the Kehlsteinhaus. The center photo from 1945 shows the
original elevator operator Georg Mehr, who continued to work for the
Allies after the war. On the right is the elevator exit on the
main floor of the building. The photo below shows the original
configuration of the sliding wooden pocket doors that closed off the car
from the upper hallway (these doors have been replaced). (above
- Archiv Hotel zum Türken; below left - LIFE photo collection) |
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Left -
details of the tunnel architecture at the end, leading into the domed
waiting room on the left (this view is looking back down the tunnel
toward its entrance). Right - occasionally the original green leather
elevator benches can be seen in the waiting room. The waiting room walls
and dome were made of marble from Ruhpolding. |
The brass-paneled elevator with green
leather benches as it appeared in the Third Reich period.
The benches were removed after the war to provide more room for tourist passengers.
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Interior
of the brass-paneled elevator car today. According to the staff, the clock is
original to 1938, but the telephone is from the early 1950s.
(right - courtesy Jamie Howes) |
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A
hallway in front of the elevator doorway led to the kitchen and an
office for Hitler (which he never used). The hallway had restrooms and a
large coat rack.
(Bundesarchiv) |
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At the
top, the elevator lets out into a corridor, from which one enters the
dining hall. This is a secondary dining area today, but it was once the
main area. Hitler had an office behind the right-hand door at the far end of the
room (to the right of the bar in the modern view above; used as the Kehlsteinhaus director's office today and not open to
the public), and the kitchen was further down the hall on the left. A small room for
the guards was at the end of this hallway (sometimes used today as an
additional dining area). The ceiling light fixtures seen today are postwar
replacements, as are most of the light fixtures in the Kehlsteinhaus
(many of the originals having been plundered after the war). The views below face the
other direction, looking toward the main room. The china cupboard seen
in the photos below was the only original piece of furniture
left in the Kehlsteinhaus recently (the glass doors seen on the top are
replacements for the original wooden doors), but this cupboard, seen on
the right below in 2009, was no longer in place after 2011. (above - U.S.
National Archives, RG 111SC-207256-S; below - U.S. National Archives, RG
242-H) |
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On the
left above is a 1945 view of the kitchen. The corridor seen on the right
led from outside the house to the kitchen area (on the left). Note the
original bronze door. On the right side of this corridor is a small room
that was used by the guard force (the "Wachstube"), seen in
the photos below. (left - U.S. National Archives, Army
Signal Corps Collection, RG 111SC-207257-S) |
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The main
room, then and now, was the circular Great Hall, clad in granite blocks
on the exterior and sandstone on the interior (both on a concrete base -
the Kehlsteinhaus is not solid stone). The period view above shows the costly rugs and Gobelin
tapestry above the fireplace, and the normal circular table for intimate
gatherings. Below left, GIs from the 101st Airborne Division enjoy the
surroundings in May 1945. |
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The
original windows in the Great Hall could be lowered into the walls to
allow open air views, but the current replacement windows do not lower. The
doorway in the right-hand photo below leads down a short flight of steps
to the Scharitzkehl Room (see below). (U.S. Army photos) |
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The
normal small table was replaced on 3 June 1944 for the reception after the wedding of Eva Braun's younger sister Gretl to SS-Gruppenführer
Hermann Fegelein, of Heinrich Himmler's staff (on the left above). Below is
a colorized and edited version of a photo showing Eva Braun seated at
the fireplace, with Albert Speer standing nearby. The original photo
also showed Speer's wife Margarete seated next to Eva Braun. (U.S.
National Archives) |
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In the
summer of 1945, American soldiers scrawled their names and other
graffiti on the wall all around the fireplace, and also on the fireplace
itself. Some of this graffiti can still be seen scratched into the
fireplace today, as well as even in some of the stone blocks around
the Great Room. The signs on either side of the fireplace in the period
photo read "This building is the property of the United States
Government. Any destruction or damage will be dealt with accordingly. By
order of the Commanding Officer." By the time this photo was taken,
the major souvenir chipping damage to the marble fireplace had already occurred.
Below - examples of 1945 carved graffiti seen on the fireplace (left)
and sandstone wall (right). |
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This
comparison view of the Great Hall, then and now, shows the marble
fireplace, entry doorway and stairs from the dining area, and doorway
leading down to the Scharitzkehl Room. Note that the current wood and
glass doors at the top of the stairs leading to the Scharitzkehl Room
were not present during the Third Reich period - they were added later -
one of the many small changes to the Kehlsteinhaus since 1945 (the
windows in the Great Hall and the Scharitzkehl Room are also different). |
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This
famous photo of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun posing in the Kehlsteinhaus
was taken at the first window to the right of the stairway into the
Scharitzkehl Room - the window that appears on the right in the photo
set just above. (U.S. National Archives, RG 242) |
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The
large doorway above is the main entrance to the Great Hall, and the
smaller doorway on the right led down a short flight of steps to a cozy
room called the Scharitzstübe or Scharitzkehlzimmer, because it
overlooks the Scharitzkehlalm
meadow. It was paneled with
decorative cembra pine (Swiss stone pine), and the original windows could be lowered into the casing for a magnificent view of the Hoher
Göll, Watzmann, and Hochkalter mountains. The Gobelin tapestry cost 24,000 Reichsmarks in
1938 (about $103,000 today). (The tapestry was taken by a U.S. soldier in
1945, but returned to Germany by the soldier's family in 2016.) Although the paneling and light fixtures appear original in
the modern photos here, much of the room was stripped by souvenir hunters in
1945, and some items had to be replaced.
This room is often erroneously called the Eva Braun Room today. |
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Left - two GIs
give a playful "Hitler salute" in the Scharitzkehlzimmer in
the summer of 1945; center - French officers visit in May 1945. (left - courtesy Chris
Munz; center - Archiv Hotel zum Türken) |
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Three of
the Kehlsteinhaus bronze light fixtures. On the left, the type seen in
the Great Room; in the center, those in the Scharitzkehlzimmer; on the
right, a light fixture in the domed waiting area at the bottom of the
elevator. Some of
those seen today are not original, but replacements for fixtures that
were plundered in 1945 (as are some of the cembra pine panels in the
Scharitzkehlzimmer) |
The newly married Fegeleins celebrate in
the Scharitzstübe along with Martin Bormann
(compare to the modern view on the left below). (U.S. National
Archives, RG 242.2)
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This
doorway leads from the Scharitzkehl Room to the sun terrace. The arched
terrace windows were glassed-in in the 1950s, and the terrace today is used
to display a photo exhibit on the history of the Kehlsteinhaus. Below, Hitler rests on the
sun terrace during a visit to the Kehlsteinhaus (probably in 1939).
The tiles that you see on the floor today are another change from the
original building ... it appears these smaller tiles were laid on top of
the original tiles, raising the floor level slightly (note the level of
the boot cleaner beside the basement door). |
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Above
- period photo showing a partial view of
the mountains from the open-air sun terrace, with today's glassed-in view on the
right. Below - the outer wall of the sun terrace today. On the right below is a view of the Kehlsteinhaus from the Hinterbrand area, showing
the sun terrace and Scharitzkehlzimmer side. (author's collection) |
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This
photo, which probably dates from the mid-1950s following the re-opening
of the Kehlsteinhaus to the public, shows the sun
terrace and Scharitzstübe on the west side. (author's collection) |
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Photos taken shortly
after U.S. occupation, along with similar views today. ( above
left - postcard in author's collection; below left - U.S. National
Archives, RG 111SC 207108, courtesy Digital
History Archive) |
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A similar view taken by an SS soldier in
1938, before construction was finished.
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Two 1945
views showing the house from opposite sides of the mountain, showing the
steep drop-off on either side. (author's collection) |
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A rare period color
photo of the Kehlsteinhaus from the rear, and the corresponding view today. |
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In the
summer of 1945 there seemed to be some confusion about Martin Bormann,
who was still not well known. The rectangular doorway (left-hand
doorway) seen in the modern photos here is a recent (ca. 2004) modification of a
window - originally, there was only the arched doorway here (see below). (U.S. Army
photos; modern photo below courtesy Jacqueline Wilson) |
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These
photos from a slightly different perspective highlight the major
exterior changes that have taken place to the Eagle's Nest building
since 1945. The sun terrace (rounded doorway seen at the left) was
glassed in and a large rocky area behind the house was leveled and
turned into a terrace; this enlarged terrace also goes around the north
side to an added doorway seen in the photos in the grouping above. This
modification also resulted in the removal of some of the original terrace
walls - just outside the entry to the sun terrace, and at the northeast
corner of the house - where several period
photos showing such visitors as Eva and Gretl Braun, Martin Bormann, and
Robert Ley were taken. Modernizations include antennas, lightning rods,
roof exhausts for the kitchen, and other roof modifications. (U.S. National
Archives, RG 111SC 207819a and 207108, courtesy Digital
History Archive) |
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One of the
postwar modifications associated with the added rear terrace was the
removal of the stone wall just outside the sun terrace doorway, where Eva
Braun is seen leaning in this scene from her photo albums in the U.S.
National Archives (RG 242-EB). |
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The
other corner of the rear terrace is shown in these views. Above, Hitler
receives a visit from Nazi Labor leader Robert Ley and his wife Inge (to
the left of Hitler) and Adolf Wagner, Nazi leader of Munich and Upper
Bavaria (foreground). Standing at the right is Hitler's personal
adjutant Julius Schaub, while Martin Bormann disappears behind the wall.
Below, a group of U.S. publishers and editors visit the Eagle's Nest on
25 May 1945. (U.S. National Archives, RG 242 (above) and RG
111-SC-285672 (below) |
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Two
exterior views of the octagonal part of the building (housing the Great Hall). The doorway seen in the right-hand photo leads to a basement area
beneath the Great Hall. |
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From mid-1944, it was deemed
necessary to guard the Kehlsteinhaus from air attack. Although Martin Bormann did not want any
anti-aircraft positions at the Kehlsteinhaus, four 3.7cm guns were emplaced on the slopes
behind. These remains may be the bases for two of these guns, similar to the bases for
the small caliber guns mounted on the Berlin flak towers.
(see the page on Obersalzberg
Flak Batteries) Note: Some sources indicate this may have
been the upper mount for a cable system used during construction, to ferry
building supplies from the valley below, and indeed, these remains are in
a bad position to be flak gun mounts; on the other hand, the cable system
ran from the other side of the mountain and terminated just behind the
house. |
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Running
beside the main tunnel that leads to the elevator going up to the
Kehlsteinhaus is a smaller service tunnel. The entrance to this tunnel
can be seen today just to the right of the postwar ticket building. In
one of the rooms off this side tunnel is located a U-Boat engine to
serve as an auxiliary generator. Then as now, the Kehlsteinhaus was
powered by electricity from the Obersalzberg below, but the U-Boat
engine generator was provided for emergencies, so that visitors would
not be caught in the elevator. The original engine (seen below being
delivered in a still from a period film) is still in its original location, and can
still act as an emergency generator. The exhaust stack for the engine is
cleverly disguised as a rock formation (seen on the right above). |
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The
U-Boat engine then-and-now. The data plate shows the type and serial
number, built in 1940, 300 horsepower (PSe - Effective Horsepower), 600
rpm. The engine output is connected to a Siemens generator (painted gray
in the photo below). The mechanism at the other end of the room in the
photo on the left below is part of the ventilation apparatus for the
main entry tunnel. |
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The
original tools for the U-Boat engine are still in place, ready for use. On
the right, an auxiliary service tunnel runs beside the main tunnel. This
side tunnel provided heated air to the main tunnel during the Third Reich
period (the heated air is no longer provided), as well as emergency access
to the elevator shaft. |
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Beneath
the engine room is a cellar pump room, with access via a small tunnel
running beneath the parking lot outside the main entry portal. A series of
stone steps lead down from the parking lot to the entry doorway of this
narrow tunnel. In the photo below, taken in 1957, the man looking over the
railing appears to be looking down at this tunnel entrance. (courtesy
Matt Rector) |
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Kehlsteinstraße
(Eagle's Nest Road)
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The
period view of a convoy going up the hill to the Eagle's Nest is looking back through the entrance toward the ruins
of the SS Kaserne behind (these ruins were removed in 1952).
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U.S. Army photo) |
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A short
distance beyond the entrance, the
Kehlstein road passes over the only bridge along the route. This bridge
was a difficult engineering design, as it has a 17 percent grade and a
side tilt in the roadway from
one end to the other. |
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The
Kehlstein road was and is an engineering marvel. The 6.37 kilometer road
(slightly over four miles) was blasted into the mountainside, rising
some 2700 feet, and using only one switchback curve (and another almost so).
The road (along with the Kehlsteinhaus) was built in only 13 months. The
switchback, called the Scharitzkehl curve (overlooking the
Scharitzkehlalm valley) is shown above in a 1940s postcard and in a
similar view today. (postcard view courtesy Ray and Gilda
Northcott) |
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Period
photos of road construction in the area of the Scharitzkehl curve.
(author's collection) |
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The road
was constructed as far as practical to take advantage of natural rock
formations, but there were many places where the natural rock had to be
reinforced, or rock bases laid for the roadbed. In these cases,
sometimes concrete was poured and then sculpted to look like natural
rock, or quarried rocks were mortared together to resemble the natural
rock. A special acid solution was used to make these quarried rocks
blend in with the surrounding weathered rock. Two examples of this work
are shown above. The photo on the right shows a rock formation known as
the Sidonase, familiar to modern tourists on the bus trip up to the
Kehlsteinhaus. It was originally planned to put a tunnel here, but the
road ended up just passing through the edge of the rock. |
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There
are five tunnels along the Kehlsteinstraße. The first of these, going
up the hill, was originally called the Südwest (Southwest) or
Hochlenzer Tunnel
(sometimes called the Recktunnel today). This was the longest tunnel, and had the most
elaborately designed entryways. In common with the Südwand Tunnel, the
Südwest Tunnel has an auxiliary entrance in its interior, in this case
leading to a short side chamber whose original purpose is unclear, but
may have been meant as shelter along the route in case of air attack
(although this chamber is on the outer side, away from the mountain, and
one would expect an air raid shelter to be built beneath the deeper rock
on the other side). |
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After
passing the Scharitzkehl Curve going up the hill, the next tunnel is the
Zigeuner (Gypsy) Tunnel, called the Gamstunnel (Chamois Tunnel) today.
This short tunnel was finished inside and out with dressed stone. On the
left is the view going up, on the right, the view going down the road. |
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A
short distance up the road from the Ziguener Tunnel is the Südwand
(South Wall) Tunnel, called the Hirsch (Stag) Tunnel today. In common
with the Südwest Tunnel, it is clad with dressed stone and has an
unfinished side chamber, in this case a main tunnel some 50 meters long,
with its own offshoot tunnel curving into the mountain from its right
side. Again, the original purpose of these tunnels is
unclear, but they may have been meant as an air raid shelter or to store
valuables from the Obersalzberg (this tunnel goes into the deeper rock
on the mountain side, in contrast to the side chamber in the Südwest
Tunnel). The remains
of the original wooden doors at the entrance to this side tunnel can be
seen above. Also in common with the Südwest Tunnel, the Südwand Tunnel
had provisions at either end for mounting doors to close off the
tunnel, presumably because of the side chambers inside (see the bottom
right photo). When Allied soldiers arrived in May 1945, wooden doors were
mounted here. |
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On the
left is a title board from one of Eva Braun's
films, showing a tunnel on the route to the Kehlsteinhaus. These
title boards in Eva's films were done by her artist friend Sofie
Stork, who may have used the Südwand Tunnel as inspiration for this
one. (left - U.S. National Archives, Record Group 242.2) |
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The
fifth and final tunnel on the Kehlstein Road is the Schwalbennest
(Swallows Nest) Tunnel. In contrast to the other tunnels, the entryway
going up (left) was decorated with dressed stone, but not the interior
or the side going down (right). In the center is a photo taken shortly
after the war, in which strands of camouflage netting
can be seen hanging over the tunnel entrance. (center -
courtesy Ray and Gilda Northcott) |
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A short distance above
the Schwalbennest tunnel, the road
turns to the right and heads directly up the hill toward the
Kehlsteinhaus and the parking area at the end of
the road, where the tunnel entrance leading to the Kehlsteinhaus
elevator is located. |
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A
curious tunnel that is not part of the Kehlstein road system, but was
bored into a cliff face near the Scharitzkehl Curve, is the
Schützenköpfl tunnel. The original purpose of this tunnel is unclear.
Some sources say it was to produce building materials or to store
explosives used in the road construction, or as an air raid shelter, while others say
it was a test tunnel originally meant to reach the elevator from this
point, thus eliminating the current upper stretch of the road. In fact,
the tunnel is bored straight into the cliff face, with a sheer drop
right at the entrance and no way to reach it except a narrow pathway
right at the cliff edge. (My thanks to my friend Ralf
Hornberger for showing me this tunnel) |
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For further information, including Internet links, check
the Bibliography page.
Continue to other Obersalzberg sites - Hitler's
Berghof, Bormann's and Göring's houses, Platterhof, Gästehaus and Kampfhäusl,
Hotel zum Türken,
Gutshof and Teehaus,
SS barracks, bunker system,
SS guard houses, miscellaneous buildings, other miscellaneous
area buildings, Berchtesgaden /
Obersalzberg Flak Batteries.
Return to the Third Reich in Ruins homepage
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My guide
book to Third Reich sites in the Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg area has
been published by Fonthill Media.
"Hitler's
Berchtesgaden" is available at Amazon and other retailers (the
Kindle version is also available from Amazon). |
Guided Tours
For personal guided tours in
English of Third Reich sites in Berchtesgaden and on the Obersalzberg (and other
local sites) from a certified and accredited local tour guide, contact:
Tom Lewis
+49-(0)1602-641-800
atobersalzberg@sky.com
BEGAFILM
- Historic Films About Berechtesgaden and the Obersalzberg
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