Hotels in Baviera
The "Eagle's Nest" is the nickname given by the American occupying fordes of 1945 to Hitler's lodge on the 1834 m (6017 ft) peak of Mount Kehlstein, pressed against the Bavarian Alps border with Austria. It commands a 360 degree panoramic view across the mountains, fulfiling the intentions of Martin Bormann and Hitler's innermost circle, who conceived the lodge as a 50th birthday present that would symbolize the singular height and endurance of Hitler's authority. Inevitably, the hubris of that intention makes the Eagles's Nest one of Bavaria and Germany's biggest tourist magnets. Be warned: it is stunningly beautiful place, but despite local people's most fervent wish it is a tainted by history, and no euphemism can change that.
Even, so, getting there is a unique journey. There is only one way. You must take the bus from Obersalzberg, because the road (closed to normal traffic) is like no other in the world. From Obersalzberg to the top, it is designed so that in a 700 m (2296 ft) vertical ascent over 6.5 km (4 mi), there is only one bend, and you cross the steep northwest face of the Kehlstein twice.
Your ears pop and you might not look if your eyes weren't glued wide-open. At the upper car park, you are directed into an imposing, marble-lined tunnel that cuts 124 m (406 ft) striaght into the mountain, where an ornate, brass-frilled and ornamental lift whisks you up to the inside of the Eagle's Nest buildings in just 41 seconds. The walls are a metre thick, and the place is a fortress. The conference and domestic rooms and the terraces would be mundane except that imagination is in full flow, reconciling extraordinary location and engineering with all the rest. you set out joking, excited. You come back speechless.
HOW
By car and bus
WHEN TO GO
May to October - the bus service does not operate at any other time.
TIME IT TAKES
20-30 minutes (Obersalzberg-Kehlsteinhaus car park).
HIGHLIGHTS
The best views of the German/Austrian Alps.
The lift/elevator.
The engineering that built the road and turned the mountain peak into a fortress - surely years ahead of its time.
Looking towards Austria from the terrace, reflecting that "The Sound of Music" took place only a few valleys away.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Under the ownership of the State of Bavaria (until recently, the site was owned by the US Armed Forces), the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) has been made part of a charitable foundation. Profits from bus and entrance tickets, the restaurants and other facilities are used to support good causes.
