This is a cool site. I have been to some of those places in Bavaria. It is interesting to see what they looked like before Gotterdamerung. Imagine how the whole valley at Berchtesgaden was like when der Fuhrer was onsite. And, how did some of the current owners of the surviving buildings acquire them. Thanks. I enjoyed it.
Thanks, when I first discovered that site I spent several hours looking through it. I too saw some sites but not any of the ones mentioned. Susanne and I drove through the area that had Oberhoffen (Spelling?) Airfield. We WERE on a historical vacation and saw many locations. For instance: If you saw the 4 part documentary from the history channel I think back in November, they had one that talked about a group of four H.J who was from some town near Rothenberg on Der Tauber. They were ardent Nazis. Well, they were supposed to bring back some patriotism back to their little stadt. Well, the owner of a local Bakery saw them parading down the main strasse, got irritated at these 15 yr old boys playing Nazi and went to confront them. He told them they should just go back home and play like the little boys they were. One of the boys from the group supposedly tried or did slap him, to which he grabbed the boy and gave him a whipping and sent them all on their way. Well, one of the boys went to the nearest SS Police station and told what happened. Well, the SS arrested 4 male civilians for treachery including the Bakery owner. They were marched to the towns cemetary and all were hung at the gate leading to the cemetary, with the shop owner also being teased by the boys as he was breathing his last. The boys then supposedly played around the dead men for about an hour, then they simply went back home and became just regular kids again. Thats flicking sick--period. Well, we visited the exact spot and said a prayer. Then we went on into Rothernberg for the nights stay. We say several places in that 4 part doc on the Hitler Youth. I saw the places before I saw this series. We saw many more interesting places from afar too. We didnt have time to see them all. We even drove within about 1 KM of where Rommel is buried in Ulm. Oh well, next time--I guess. While in Heidelberg, I saw where the SS had their Sword Fighting Academy which is now owned by the US Army. One of the mose interesting things I remembered was, when I was on a bus going from Dingelsdorf to Konstanz, we had several stops in little Villages and Stadts. At one stop in a little Village, I saw this elderly man in a long tan trenchcoat waiting for the bus. I did a doubletake when I looked at him. This man would have been the perfect person to play a Gestapo agent in some Holltwood movie. I grinned at that because he LOOKED like a GESTAPO agent. I still get a good laugh from thinking about it. I just wonder............
We took a month long summer vacation and went to Bavaria. We visited all of the sites around there including the ones I'm interested in, Berchtesgaden. We also drove to Nuremburg and Dachau. Along the way back, we went through Bad Tolz which is the junkerschule where my grandfather attended. I tried to picture how it was back then. I tried to visualize the sounds of the jackboots. You should see the size of the Nuremburg buildings. They look bigger in photos but they are still huge. The Nazis could think big. It would have been great to have seen them if it were not for the war. Too bad.
Ahhhhhhhhhh Bavariaaaaaaaa: Have you ever stayed at Forsthaus Graseck? I love the scenery, I loved the mile long hike down the mountain and through the caves. Susanne and I ate supper with a Gebirgsjager Knights Cross Recipient. What an experiance!!!!!!!!! In Unterammergau or Oberammergau, (I forget which and will have to check my records) Susanne and I were at a stopsign waiting to make the left turn when---the first of two platoon sized groups of Gebirgejagers charged past our Audi. I took 2 photos feeling like a kid who was in Willy Wonkas candy factory, and snapped a few photos. I embarassed the heck out of Susanne but, the Jagers liked it and gave us the thumbs up and being saluted by the officer leading the second group. I had a big S**t-eating grin om my mug. Where I come from, you do not see troop movements-even in war. I have been told that Bad Tolz is basically in the middle of nowhere or nothing much to do, whats your impressions? Due to lack of time, we didnt get to go to Bertchesgaden but we wanted to do so. Susanne wanted to eat at the restaurant on the mountaintop--what used to be the retreat. OH well, maybe if I can make it back for U 181s next reunion in Sept--maybe I can go there.
I wouldn't say that. We stayed in Garmisch which was south of Bad Tolz and not too far from Oberammergau. Munich was just North. The town itself was like any other German town. The school was being used by the U.S. Military as a school for their troops. Looks like nothing of what I have seen previously or the photos shown to me by my grandfather. I had a great time though.
I didnt realize Bad Tolz was so close to where I went. This is what I get for listening to someone who did live there for 13 years but has not been there in over 20 years. He told me Bad Tolz was in a desloate part of the country. Oh well, at least he was right about Heidelberg. I also spent a day in Garmisch-Partenkirchen if this is the same place you are talking about. Man-o-man, it sure was beautiful there.
Yes it is. We visited the Zugspitze and the Olympic ski ramp as well as some other non nazi sites. We went in May time and it was great. As for Bad Tolz, all of the prewar photos I have seen, portrays it to be isolated but today, it is a large military complex. Or at least when we were there in 94
We were at the Zugspitz in late September. Susanne and I had met a man who was a Gebirgs KC REcipient the evening before--(the one we had dinner with at Forsthaus Graseck Restaurant) We hiked down the mountain along the trail (I almost slipped on my backside a few times because of all the moisture) and then Susanne and the vet decided to climb their way back up--I decided to take the lift since I "aint" used to mountains or even small hills. I got back there about the same time they did. The man is into his mid 80's and is still fit as a fiddle. Me, I was exhausted, Susanne broke a sweat but thtas all. I took some photos on the way back up, but I dont know if they will come out decently because the windows of the lift were made of plastic and scratched. I sure would love to be there when there is show on the ground.
Update on Bad Tolz I was in Bavaria two weeks ago and drove past the Junkerschule - now a massive building site ! It's being turned into a business/retail complex or something - trucks and cranes everywhere. It looks as though the original frontage and entrance will remain but if you want to see it in it's original state - too late, mate !
Sadly the face of Germany is changing at too rapid of a rate. I NEED to get back there and take hundreds of more pics before it is all gone. Quite welcome Sommecourt--I absolutely loved that site. I stumbled across it by accident one day shortly after I got back from Germany. It DID bring back alot of good memories for me.
Hallo! I went to Bavaria last December on holidays. I actually took my best Mexican friend there and we had a very nice time. We, of course went Skifahren (?) to Berchtesgaden and visited some Nazi santuaruies. Also visited Nürnberg and the famous stadium. And we, as all German teenagers went skating there. You could actually stand exactly were Hitler did to adress 350.000 Hitlerjugend's boys and SA's men! It would be funny to see Hitler's face if he saw that we were skating in his sanctuary... He he! And also Dachau is a very interesting place. Just seeing the infamous door: "Arbeit macht frei" freezes your skin! I am looking forward to go back to the Vaterland this December...
Interesting tidbit, the locals of Dachau say that when it rains, you can smell the ashen remains of those who were cremated. Reason was because the Germans used the ashes to make repairs on the road in front of the camp. Don't know if that was fact. We were there on a sunny day. If wonder if there are any ghosts or hauntings around there.
Speaking of Dachau, my two Waffen SS Unit Collar Tabs were made by some of the "residents" of Dachau. PzJgr--now that is an interesting bit. I had heard something similar about when it rained there, but the bit of some ashes possibly being used in the roads pavement wouldnt surprise me a bit.
