Eagle's Nest

If any of you watched the extremely well-done Band of Brothers HBO miniseries, you will know what Hitler's Eagle's Nest is. It was the episode of the show where Easy Company comes there at the end of the war that made me really want to stop in Berchtesgaden, Germany on our way from Salzburg to Munich. This is the benefit of the Eurail pass - every extra trip you make on a travel day is essentially free.

 

The Eagle's Nest was given to Hitler by the Nazi party for his 50th birthday. The idea for the mountain retreat was Heinrich Himmler's idea. My understanding from Band of Brothers was that Hitler hid here near the end of the war to avoid capture - but this could have been made up for the series. The Eagle's Nest is 1,800 metres, or about 6,000 feet up in the Bavarian Alps (or in German "Bayer Alps" - so we own them). The Nest, the road leading up to it and the elevator from the bus stop really show the German production machine of the Nazi era. It all took 13 months to construct which is amazingly fast considering the meticulous engineering and massive man power needed for the project.

 

The most amazing part of it was the views. From the Nest you could climb even higher up the mountain until we were basically at the summit. We were in awe of the beauty and power of God's creation! Snow-capped mountains everywhere, two or three shimmering lakes covering valleys below us, vibrantly green pastures surrounding us, and beautiful flowers even at the top of the mountain (not Edelweiss, unfortunately). I was left wondering, if God can create something so immense and flawlessly beautiful as the mountains how much more powerful and flawless must He be?

 

- Andy