You old guys know that during a 26 year Army Carieer we get to see a lot of the world. Most of my overseas service was in the far east, but my first overseas was in 1961, a young PFC and I went to Germany. I want to share a little portion of that tour, this was posted on Sarge Charlie in Janruary 2007.
Well folks the following is maybe the most beautiful place in the world, at least that is what I think, Berchtesgaden, Germany.
Well the Army had this program for the health and welfare of the soldiers called a Religious Retreat. They had a hotel in Bavaria where we could go for one week, not charged as leave time. The transportation, quarters and rations were provided by the Army. The only requirement was that your local Chaplin approve the retreat and you had to attend chapel each day you were on reteat. You were allowed to take a retreat twice each year, this soldier took advantage of that.
Of courst the trip starts on the Strassenbahan to the Frankfurt Hauptbanhnhof and then a train to the Baverian Alps, the travel ends at The Berchtesgaden Bahnhof
Well folks, I got you to come along on this trip down to the Bavarian Alps, mostly because it is just beautiful here but when I started learning about the place I think you need to know something about the history, you know I like history………..
Well it seems that I am not the only person that likes this part of the world and wanted to have his own little retreat here in Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg
Adolf Hitlers cottage, “Kampfhäusl”
Adolf Hitler was introduced to the Obersalzberg, a mountain retreat area above Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, in mid-1923. In 1925 Hitler stayed in a small cottage on the Obersalzberg upon his release from Landsberg prison, following the failed Munich putsch of 9 November 1923. In this cottage, later called the “Kampfhäusl,” Hitler wrote the second part of “Mein Kampf”
In 1927 he rented and later bought a mountain retreat called Haus Wachenfeild This house became the basis for a later expansion that turned the peaceful, out-of-the-way Obersalzberg retreat into a huge complex of Nazi buildings, mostly closed to the public.
Hitler rented this house in 1927 for 100 Reichsmarks per month (some sources say in 1928), and he secured the rights to purchase it in 1932. He bought the house in June 1933 for 40,000 Goldmarks. After his election as Reichskanzler he commissioned architect Alois Degano to remodel the house
More views of Haus Wachenfeld, 1933-1936.
Haus Wachenfeld during its conversion into the Berghof, ca. June 1936. The west side of Haus Wachenfeld was retained, and the main part of the Berghof was simply added onto this
These colorized versions of period photos show how the Berghof was built around Haus Wachenfeld
Hitler’s native Austria is visible in the middle distance, through the cleft in the mountains.
This view, taken from the hill behind the Berghof, shows the burned-out ruin as it was found by the 3rd Infantry Division
GIs from the 3rd Infantry Division enjoy the Berghof stores of wine and cognac. They are sitting at the top of the grand staircase, just outside the Berghof entrance.
Appearance of the ruined Berghof in the late 1940s - early 1950s.
Bavarian government blew up the ruins of the Berghof on 30 April 1952, the anniversary of Hitler’s death. The garage remained after the 1952 destruction, but was removed in 1995, after the U.S. Army turned the Obersalzberg area back over to Bavaria.
View of Berghof from above
The same view today………..
NOT
