Eagle's Nest

On labor day weekend we decided to join our friends and head back up to the Garmisch area.  We ended up going really, really late on Thursday night because David and Wes were heading  to the Eagle's Nest bright and early on Friday morning.  Before we left for the day, the boys decided to take advantage of the little playground outside our apartment.

 

AJ found a little tractor to ride along on.  :-)

 

They even had a trampoline out there!!  The boys were excited about that and Michael getting some air!!!

 

AJ is getting a little big for this one, but still having a great time!!!!

While the boys went to play, Sarah, the kids and I decided to go for a bike ride, well the kids biked but Sarah and I ran.  We were out for over an hour and the kids did great!!!  It was so beautiful out there, past lushes mountains, waterfalls, etc.  It was so pretty.  Then they were pretty tired out so we headed in for lunch and then some swimming at the hotel.  Though the kids said they were sooooo tired, they had enough energy for swimming for quite a few hours!!  We really had a great time with the whole day!!!  I think the adults were more tired than the kids that night!

 

I am letting David take over since I didn't go to the Eagle's Nest with him.

This is the entrance to a tunnel in the mountain that takes you to an elevator up to the Eagle's Nest.  Visitors are not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the elevator but it is still as it was when it was originally built.  The whole thing is really amazing in how it was built and when.  Very dangerous work on the side of a very steep mountain and done in about a year.  The original planning on road work was done even in the snow in order to have it ready as a gift for Hitler's birthday.  Over 3000 men worked on this project.  Work was done in shifts around the clock.  The road up to this area is so steep that only specially designed buses that are fitted with special brakes and drive train to be able to make the trek.  The road was off limits to everyone except the Americans until it was officially re-opened.

This view from up above was amazing and we got so incredibly blessed to have awesome weather that day.  The view from everywhere up there was really amazing, just incredibly beautiful!

This cross was up above the Eagle's Nest and that flower is an Edelweiss flower which is  the flower for the area.

Another vantage point from by the cross in the previous picture, just breath taking.

This restaurant is now a part of the house at the Eagle's Nest, it really isn't so much a historical marker.  After the area around this was heavily bombed, this residence is one of the very few remaining buildings from that time.  The whole area really became Nazi owned an operated.  Hitler spent a lot of time near hear when he was younger and after he became Chancellor he planned on making this area a second seat of government for Germany.



As a part of the birthday present, this was from Mussolini and is  all marble.  It is one of the few things that has remained as it was when the allies liberated the area.  When you look closely at the fireplace you can see the initials from some of the first Soldiers to do a little R&R here.

More of the incredible view.

Looking down on the valley from the house on Obersalzberg.  The area is known for its salt mines and obviously their salt, Osersalzberg means basically salt town.

This is looking back from above the Eagle's Nest.

Wes said this was the perfect selfie area so I had to take one although I am not really a big fan of selfies.

The view really was quite amazing.

This is a 5 star hotel called the Intercontinental. This was once the barracks of SS Soldiers that were there to protect the area.

Another picture of the amazing view.



Like most places in Germany, they had beer there so we had to have one!  It was an incredible day and a great treat to enjoy the view with.  We met some really nice people at the next table and just took in a little bit of the gorgeous sunshine.

This is the actual German name of the Eagle's Nest. Eagle's Nest is the American name for the house.

There are a couple of ways that you can come back down from the Eagle's Nest, the elevator and a walking path.  This is a picture from that path looking back up at the Eagle's Nest.

This is the cemetery in Berchtesgaden where we stopped in for lunch on the way back to the hotel.  After the war, Obersalzberg, in the Berchtesgaden, became a military zone and most of its buildings were requisitioned by the US Army.

This is a panoramic view of a shopping area.

This was the inside of the St. Bartholomae church in town, absolutely beautiful.

Had to get a picture of the organ for Tammy!

Gorgeous art inside of the church.

Thought that this was awesome, the terminator in Germany!  This was a pretty cool trip despite not having Tammy and the boys with me, I think the boys would have been pretty bored though.  Could not get over the views, absolutely incredible.  Not as much history as I thought there would have been unfortunately but still great.  The area was liberated pretty easily from what I understand after it was bomber pretty seriously from the allies and then later used as an area for R&R for Soldiers for quite some time thereafter.