Das Kehlsteinhaus: Hitler's Hideout

With the reality of our eight hour drive to Salzburg burdening the back of our minds, we made plans to break up the monotony of our return home with a stop along the way.  We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of visiting Das Kehlsteinhaus, better known as the Eagle's Nest, location of Hitler's Bavarian hideout.  We determined it was in our best interest to visit knowing we wouldn't be in the area again.  Unfortunately, the doldrums of long drives were not to be unburdened, we found out we were no closer to home despite the 45-minute ride back to Germany.

Eagle's Nest

House atop Kehlstein

There was one highlight of our morning drive, we concluded our endless search for affordable Lederhosen.  During our marathon ride to Salzburg, we passed an outlet close to our hotel who sold the highly sought after leather pants.  We had yet to come across a store whose price for the traditional garb was below €400, thus our predetermined pessimism numbed us from raising our hopes.  However, to our surprise, the Austrian outlet had everything we wanted at a reasonable price.  Being a Lederhosen neophyte, the employee helped with everything and even guessed the appropriate sizes with remarkable accuracy.  Our day was already off to a great start, but it was time to get back on the road and head to the Eagle's Nest.

View of the Alps

Path to/from the house and Biergarten

Another thirty minutes later and we crossed the border, passed through the town Berchtesgaden, and arrived in Obersalzberg, where we were surprised to see the largest crowds we had seen all weekend.  Every parking lot we passed was full, however, we found a spot on the side of the road a short walk away from the ticket office.  To our surprise, the operation was similar to a Disney-run attraction; the ticket line snaked to control the masses, a specific time and bus number was designated, and you begin and end your adventure at the gift shop.

View from our bench

Given the logically streamlined process, the blatant ineptitude of people never ceases to amaze.  We waited in our assigned bus line while (at least) three large groups of visitors struggled to make the correlation between the numbers on their tickets and those on the signs and corresponding buses.  Once the plight of incompetence was settled, we made the long and winding ascent up Kehlstein (mountain's name).  On the ride up, the history of the Eagle's Nest was played over the audio system and included important instructions once we reached the top.

The wait was worth it

Even got someone to take our picture

Before heading to the through the underground tunnel, it was stressed that visitors book a return bus upon arrival at the drop-off.  To avoid further annoyances from absent-minded tourists, we tried to be among the first to arrange our return.  We thought the long waits were over, however, we were wrong.  Next up, another line for the elevator at the end of the underground passage.  The hordes' impatience was palpable, numerous groups sent individuals to the front of the line to gauge the amount of people who boarded the elevator and then count the amount of people ahead of their group.  This line reminded us of the wait for Les Catacombes, although, in Paris, we worried we wouldn't make it inside the Ossuary before it closed its doors for the evening.

The house before the clouds rolled in

Wait, we just left Austria, now we're back

The clouds cometh

When we boarded the elevator, we were relieved the waiting was over.  As we disembarked the lift, the new arrivals ready to explore merged with the traffic from the Biergarten which bottlenecked the flow.  We were relieved once we made it outside where crowds of people still lingered, but the fresh air and warm sun welcomed us.  For one of the most detestable humans to have ever lived, Hitler's Bavarian hideout is exceptionally popular.  Das Kehlsteinhaus was built for him as a gift for his 50th birthday and is the most visited attraction in Berchtesgaden (unfounded statistic based on our experience).  The first thing we noticed was the incredible view of the German and Austrian Alps.

Enjoying the final moments of the view before the clouds obscure it all

The weather couldn't be better for our experience, the skies were clear and the sun kept us warm despite the elevation (1834 m or 6017 ft).  However, by the time we left, the majority of the panoramic views were blotted out by the clouds.  With the additional wait for the elevator, our time to explore was curtailed.  We briefly hiked along the ridge and crossed the border back into Austria.  Instead of joining the crowds congregating in the Biergarten, we found a lone bench overlooking the German Alps.  Sadly, the time came for us to wait in our final line of the day, our descent to the pickup/drop-off zone.  There seemed to be slightly less confusion with the buses this time.   We eventually made it back to the souvenir shop where purchased a post card to add to our collection and later returned to our car.

One more panoramic 

The fun part of our weekend adventure officially ended, all that remained was the mind-numbing drive home to Homburg.  Stau and Stuttgart remained synonymous, although; if you can call it luck, the remaining six hours weren't nearly as bad as the drive that began our weekend.  Regardless, I needed to mentally prepare for our future escapades because we had a lot of driving ahead of us.