June 3, 2023
Day 8 - Berchtesgaden
First, time was spent with the bike today. My shocks have been a little squeaky and we’re getting on my nerves. I was able to find a bike store and acquire a spray can of lube. With targeted judicious spraying, my shocks are now nice and quiet again. I think the dust from the unpaved trails is to blame. The little metal piece that controls the brake lights also fell out at some point leaving my brake lights on constantly. Not ideal. The factory mailed me replacement parts and I was able to get that fitted and working as well. Quality time with the bike!
Rain was projected for today so rather than going up on a mountain or out in a lake with potential thunderstorms, the plan was to go instead to the Kehlsteinhaus. Never heard of that? That’s because only Germans seem to call it that. Americans know it as the Eagle’s Nest, Hitlers mountain tea house.
I have mixed feelings visiting locations like this. Part of me feels it’s not right for places like this to now be tourist attractions. The Kehlsteinhaus was part of an area of Nazi buildings in Obersalzburg. Hitler had his mountain retreat in this area (intentionally destroyed in 1950 I think by allied forces.) There was apparently also other buildings here. Hitler liked coming to the mountains to relax and do planning. The Eagle’s Nest was never destroyed in bombing like some other buildings were.
The road getting up to the Kehlsteinhaus was built in 18 months. Workers were forced to work through the winter. Safety laws were suspended in order to force the work through. Too many workers died carving the narrow road out of the rock face of the mountain. Today buses are the only thing allowed up and down and they have to be specially modified in order to make the very tight curves. There are several tunnels. On one side of the bus is a rock wall and on the other side is a low stone wall. After that it’s a sheer drop a very long ways to the valley floor.
The Kehlsteinhaus was not heated and had no sleeping facilities. It was really intended just as a scenic tea house. Today it is a restaurant with a spectacular view. There are some info panels about how it was built, but not much else. There is some sort of documentation center down at the bus stop, but it was closed.
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I’m sure there are differing views on this, but for me I would prefer to see a place like this be a memorial for the victims of the holocaust. It seems irreverent for people to be dining and laughing in a place where such evil was concocted. It is also inconceivable to me that someone could think up such horrible atrocities in a place so beautiful. How dark and dead does a person’s soul have to be to think of world domination and killing people that don’t fit your view of an ideal race when you are surrounded by gorgeous mountain vistas? I think having a holocaust memorial there would bring home even more how terrible a person Hitler and his people were when you see the contrast of the surroundings vs what was happening on the battle field and in the concentration camps.
Sorry for such a dark post, but given the political trajectory in an alarming number of countries right now, I think it is more important than ever to remember what happened the last time someone took power who hated people different from him. Just because that happened nearly 100 years ago, doesn’t mean it can’t happen again.
Tomorrow it’s back to cycling. I’m escorting my compatriot in the Bülk back to the airport to try and help get it on the plane. A Milan RS made the trip from Frankfurt to the US last week, so there is at least recent precedent. Fingers crossed.
I’ve made sure there’s no nasty gravel on the way back. The bikes both got carefully checked over this evening and remarkably look great. Paint is still in good shape. No signs of cracks or stress. Amazing what these bikes can endure. They haven’t exactly been eased into their life.
Oh, and it never actually rained….
Berchtesgaden photo dump:
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