You Go Nate!

From Berchtesgaden & Königsee

Alan Comes to Visit - Part II:
THE EAGLE'S NEST AND THE KING OF LAKES (Sept. 9)

We woke up on Tuesday morning to a Japanese guy in spandex opening the curtains with a hearty "Good Morning!" It was time to get up anyway, so no biggie. There were six of us in one room of this hostel and I could tell not everyone was as happy about their wake up call.

We went to the Salzburg bus station and got some fresh pastries to eat while we waited to board our bus. We took the 45-minute bus ride back into Germany, passing along side the Untersberg mountain...



...and a beautiful Alpine valley, before arriving in the town of Berchtesgaden just as the morning mist was lifting from the surrounding mountains...




Berchtesgaden is a small Bavarian town surrounded by towering Alpine peaks. On one of these mountains sits the famous "Eagle's Nest." This is the mountain fortress that was built for Adolf Hitler for his birthday and although visited by him only a handful of times, was supposed to be the place of the last standoff between Nazi and Allied forces. The taking of the Eagle's Nest is featured in the Band of Brothers miniseries, and when Allied forces finally took the Eagle's Nest they met no resistance as the officers inside had all fled or comitted suicide.

There were loads of people wanting to get up to the Eagle's Nest so we waited in line for our tickets and then boarded a crowded bus to the top.

The bus drove a narrow road that was a feat of engineering in its day....



The view of the Alps all around was stunning, and when we reached the top parking lot there was a magnificent view to the East of the Untersberg mountain with Salzburg in the distance on the right...




Next we entered the tunnel...



..and followed the damp, dimly lit way...



...to the brass elevator...



We crammed inside and rode up to the Eagle's Nest itself...



Nowadays the house that remains atop the ridge is a restaurant. Here is the dining room which also served Hitler & co...



..and the fireplace. This is where Hitler would buy postcards and T-shirts for his friends:




There really wasn't a whole lot to see inside, but outside was a different story.

We followed the short trail up the ridge a little bit for a stunning view in almost every direction. Here I am with the Eagle's Nest behind me...




And here is the view to the West overlooking Königsee (the lake at the left) where we would be later that day.



Jagged Alpine peaks surrounded us on nearly every side...












Here is the view to the east with Salzburg above my head...



And here is an extreme close-up of Salzburg from the Eagle's Nest. You can see the fortress quite clearly...




Excellent panoramic views and great weather!








After going back down to the base of the mountain we went to the Nazi Documentation Center which featured a museum giving a brief history of Nazism and its history in the area.

Here is a picture I've never seen before: Hitler in Berchtesgaden in his lederhosen...




The documentaion center is built over the war bunker that was built as a super stronghold to protect the mountain...







Here you can see holes in the wall where guards placed their machine guns to shoot at any unfriendlies who might come down the stairs...



The bunker never saw any action, however.

Next we took the bus over to the town of Schönau on the shores of Königsee (King Lake). There we ate a wonderful Bavarian lunch of Schweinshaxen: roast pork knuckle with horseraddish, dumplings, and sauerkraut. It was delish...



We walked down to the docks on the lake, passing typical Bavarian architecture:



...and boarded the boat to take us onto the lake.




We left the docks...






...and we were off!



There were stunning views all around, and although the boat was a little cramped, I managed to get a shot or two...



At one point they stopped the boat and the "guide" pulled out a trumpet. He stood outside the cabin and played a series of melodic fragments, after a second or so we heard them repeated cleary as an echo across the lake. It was quite amazing to hear such a strong, clear, and musical echo.




The boat continued on and soon we were approaching the St. Bartholomä church...




This church was built in a unique Baroque style in the 16th century, and it made for an interesting view against the shining lake and shadowed cliffs...



We docked to let some people off and on and then continued onward...














After about an hour we approached the end of the lake.



There we disembarked and had a look behind us...



We then hiked a little ways up to a smaller lake that lies in the valley above. Here I am at Obersee ("Above Lake")...



Looking across Obersee you can see (if you look closely) Germany's highest waterfall. There wasn't much to it at this time of year...



We took the trail leading around Obersee, passing many cows...



Some were just hanging out on the trail...



But they didn't mind us...



The afternoon reflections of the Alps in Obersee were stunning...











We got to the house on the other end of the lake, looking back towards where we came. Here you can see a farm boy with a watering pail. For some reason he was watering the cow pies. Not sure why.

It was getting late so we hiked back around Obersee and then boarded the boat that took us back to Schönau. We arrived as the sun was setting.

We could see the Eagle's Nest glinting above us from the setting sun...

From Berchtesgaden & Königsee

We took the bus back to Berchtesgaden where we quickly ate some soup at a Chinese restaurant before catching our train back to Munich. We got home rather late, but it had been a very fun and full day.


Next: Olympic Stadiums, Grand Palaces, and Sushi!

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