Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Eagle's Nest

During WWII Adolf Hitler had to have more than one dwelling place to best keep him out of trouble. One these hideouts was in München, Deutschland. For Hitler’s 50th birthday this place called “Eagle’s Nest” was erected originally as a teahouse for the head of the third Reich. This location became an important one for planning meeting between the leaders of the Nazi party. This hideaway is located far up in the Alps, high enough to overlook Munich and into Salzburg in Austria. Tickets can be purchased to travel up the mountain to see this hideout and the spectacular view. Special busses are used to take tourists up the windy, mountain roads because normal buses just wouldn’t cut it. Once you’ve reached the top of the road, there is still an elevator that takes you to the teahouse. From there, there is the most spectacular view of the surrounding area and the German/Austrian Alps.

I loved this excursion but I still don’t think I was able to fully appreciate the beauty because of what went on there. It is sad that such a beautiful place has a negative feel about it just because it was used by Hitler and his advisors. Towards the end of the war, the Americans thought Hitler might be hiding in his hideout a little farther down the mountain from the teahouse, and so that part was blown to smithereens by bombs. At first I thought that I would like to see where Hitler had stayed on a few occasions but when we reached the spot I found that I was glad it was destroyed. For one thing, Brother Minert told us the Americans made sure that not much was left so that future Nazi sympathizers didn’t have a place to gather and mourn for and worship Hitler. I wouldn’t be surprised if monuments such as this were left intact and neo-Nazis used it as a rallying point.

Despite all the terrible things that happened in Europe due planning that was, in part, carried out in this place, you couldn’t deny that it was a magnificent place. It is no wonder that Hitler would love to stay in this place. I was sad that we only had about an hour to stay there and look around because no picture could do that place justice, and I wanted the images engraved in my mind forever. Far below the mountain were vast fields and plains, forests and trees, and seemingly miniature building and churches popping up to create what looked like toy cities. The nature there on the mountains was lush and green, and the farmers had sculpted the land to sow their crops in perfect multi-colored lines. This was definitely a place that I would like to re-visit.



This wall is what's left of Hitler's mountain home.

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