Day 9, June 22

Today we spent many hours on our little bus driving to Salzburg, Austria.  While riding we watched my favorite movie of all time, The Sound of Music, & I was very happy to learn something about an incident that occurred several years ago.  My dear friend Jane Harrison & I were in Salzburg & decided to take "The Sound of Music Tour," It was a very hot day & ice cold beer was served on the bus.  We stopped at all sites used for filming in the movie.  We would stop for instance at the church where Maria married Captain Von trapp; then, we would get back on the bus, listen to the sound track from the movie & drink beer until we reached the next stop.   I sang along & sobbed throughout the entire tour & all these years I thought I sobbed because of the beer, but riding along in the spectacular Aurtrian countryside, I sobbed again as I watched the movie today.                                

  

We drove through the village of Berchtesgaden to visit Hitler"s Eagle's Nest (a name dubbed by the American Army).  It is located on top of the Kehlstein Mountain & was                                                                                                   built in1937 & 1938 & presented to Hitler as gift from the Nazis for his 50th birthday.  Several thousand workers were involved in this mammouth project, & construction took place under extreme conditions.  The work had to be completed at record speed in rough terrain with considerable logistical effort at the horrendous cost of 30 million Reichmarks.  I do not know how much that is in dollars, but I did learn that two large tapestries that hung in the main reception hall & an exclsive French rug in the dining room cost over a hundred thousand Reichsmarks or $550,000 today.  

First, a four-mile road had to be cut into the mountain through previosly impassable terrain which took 13 months.  Then a 406 foot tunnel had to be driven into the mountain, taking another 12 months.  Another 406 foot vertical tunnel hewn in the rock serves as a shaft for a brass-lined elevator whose original purpose was to transport Hitler in a  41 second ride to the top of the mountain to the building known as the Eagle's Nest.      

The mountain chalet was designed by Martin Bormann whose intention was to impress Hitler's visitors, both by the views of the surrounding mountains & inside the chalet.  The building had no bedrooms & was not designed for overnight visitors.  The kitchen had the finest silver & place settings for 400.  Ultimately, Hitler visited only a few times.

I have been intrigued by the Eagles Nest since first reading about it in the 60's.  I visited it in 1969 & have never forgotten driving up the mountain, walking through the cold tunnel, stepping into the brass elevator, ascending & getting out on top of the mountain & seeing some of the most splendid on earth.    Unfortunately our group did not have the same experience.  It was cold, dark & pouring down rain.  When we got out of the elevator, there was no visability; we could hardly see our hands before oujr faces.  I felt badly for those who had not been there previously.

The view from the top of the mountain.

We drove on to Salzburg, Austria, which I consider the jewel of Europe.  We had very little time in this lovely city only having time for a walking tour after dinner, but I was happy to be back.