the Kehlsteinstrasse to the Kehlsteinhaus, a.k.a. Hitler's Eagle's Nest

A late 1950s view, the bus on the right is a Mercedes.

Another photo from the same era with a Mercedes bus; the Kehlsteinhaus can be seen in the upper left.

At Hintereck (970 metres above sea level) on the Obersalzberg on the German side of the German/Austrian border begins the 6.5 km long Kehlsteinstrasse completed in 1938 after 13 months of construction. It has five tunnels and overcomes a height difference of 700 metres. The road ends at a large bus turning place (at 1696 metres above sea level) beneath the Eagle's Nest to which an elevator ascends. It is only for bus transport to this point. On the north side from Ofnerboden (1150 metres elevation) leads the slightly narrower, about 4 km long Dalsenwinkelstrasse also to the bus turning place. It crosses the steep north wall of the Kehlstein and can be used by pedestrians and cyclists.

The road was built as part of the gift by the Nazi Party to Hitler for his 50th birthday in 1939 of the Kehlsteinhaus, known to the Allies as the Eagle's Nest, sometimes as the Führer's Teahouse.  Although Hitler's mountain headquarters, the Berghof, lower down on the mountain above Berchtesgaden, was demolished by the RAF on 25 April 1945, the Eagle's Nest was left untouched and is a major tourist attraction today.

The Eagle's Nest, today a restaurant and a small museum, and is (just) visible from Berchtesgaden. (Geoff Churchman pic)