Dokumentation Obersalzberg

The Dokumentation Obersalzberg is one of the most serious and well-executed museums of the Nazi period anywhere in Germany. It opened in 1999 on the site of Obersalzberg, the mountain retreat where Hitler, Bormann, Göring, Speer, and much of the senior Nazi leadership established a second seat of government in the 1930s and 1940s. The permanent exhibition — "Idyll and Crime" — traces the transformation of an Alpine resort into a fortified compound, and documents the regime's crimes in unflinching detail.

The museum is built over the remnants of the original compound. The underground bunker network, which was partly used during the final stages of the war, can be visited as part of the admission. Allow two to three hours. The exhibition is in German and English. Admission is around 10 EUR. The museum is essential context for a visit to the Kehlsteinhaus — you will understand the Eagle's Nest very differently after spending an hour here.

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The site at Obersalzberg had been a modest summer resort before the Nazis arrived. By 1937 the original farmhouses had been demolished, alpine meadows replaced by SS barracks and security fencing, and the entire mountain turned into a fortified compound. After the war, the Bavarian government deliberately demolished the Berghof to prevent it becoming a pilgrimage site — the bunker network beneath it was sealed and ignored for decades before finally being incorporated into the museum in 2004.

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