"berchtesgaden" a Berchtesgaden Travel Page by doug48

berchtesgaden is a beautiful alpine village located near the german-austrian border about 30 miles west of salzburg. in this charming village you can visit the stiftskirche, (abbey church) and the schloss, (castle) once the summer residence of the wittelsbachs. on the east edge of town is the salzbergwerk, (salt mine) it has been in constant operation since 1517. there is an interesting tour of the mine. west of town is lake konigssee. you can take a boat tour of this beautiful lake. near the konigssee parking area you can take the jenner cable car for a spectactular view of watzmann mountain and the valley below.

today berchtesgaden is probably best known for it's infamous resident, adolf hitler. hitler bought a summer cottage on the obersalzberg plateau in 1928. this purchase changed this sleeply little alpine village forever. during the third reich berchtsgaden became the play ground of nazi big whigs. hermann goring, joseph gobbels and martin borman had second homes in berchtesgaden.
berchtesgaden has alot to offer, hiking, fishing and golf in the summer and skiing in the winter, as well as a number of historical sites for students of 20th century history.

an excellent guide book for germany is "day trips germany" earl steinblickler, pub. hastings house.
two definative books about nazi germany are, "rise and fall of the third reich" william l. shirer, pub. simon & schuster and "adolf hitler", john toland, pub: doubleday.
an interesting site to see before and after pictures of berchtesgaden during the third reich is www.thirdreichruins.com