Hitler's Eagle's Nest & Saltmines

For Dad and Arms, my two 101st Vets:
Berchtesgaden was a magnet for the troops of all the armies in southern Germany, Austria, and northern Italy. South of Salzburg, the Bavarian mountain town of Berchtesgaden was Valhalla for the Nazi gods, lords, and masters. Hitler had a home there and a mountain-top stone retreat called the Aldershorst (Eagle’s Nest) 8,000 ft. high.
…
Berchtesgaden was really two magnets: the symbolic home of Hitler’s mad lust for power and the best looting possibilities in Europe.

Everybody wanted to get there – French advancing side by side with the 101st, British coming up from Italy, German leaders who wanted to get their possessions, and every American in Europe.

Easy Company got there first.

-- Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers
We had another great weekend - we had to go pick up a dresser we bought two weeks ago, so we explored around the region again...Berchtesgaden, Germany and Salzburg, Austria.

These are some pictures of the amazing views from "ein Teehaus für der Führer," or Hitler's Tea House, or as the Americans call it, "The Eagle's Nest.")

The "self-timer" picture was shot from the outcropping farthest from the Eagle's Nest before it drops off at about a 90-degree slope to the Konigsee below. I didn't lean on the railing, let's put it that way.