The tunnel to the elevator - "The Eagle's Nest"

Entrance to tunnel which leads to the elevator up to the Eagle's Nest

The photo above shows the entrance to the tunnel that leads to the elevator up to the Eagle's Nest. The small stone building on the left was built after the war. Another tunnel, which runs parallel to the access tunnel, is a supply shaft for electricity and heating lines. Originally, the bronze door to the tunnel had handles in the shape of a lion. Both of the handles were taken as souvenirs by Allied soldiers; one is now in the hands of the family of General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Tour buses deliver visitors to a parking lot, where one must then enter this long tunnel which leads to the 124-meter-high elevator shaft for the final ascent to the the Eagle's Nest.

Before going through the tunnel, one must stop at the tourist center in the parking lot and make reservations for the return bus ride to the Obersalzberg. Return buses run every half hour until 5 p.m.

The Eagle's Nest can only be reached by a steep, treacherous road with hairpin curves which winds four and a half miles up to the top of the mountain called Kehlstein. This road, cut through the mountainside of solid rock and considered one of the world's greatest feats of highway engineering, is only accessible to buses which leave every half hour from the Hintereck parking lot on the Obersalzberg. The photo below shows visitors waiting at the tunnel for their return bus to the Obersalzberg.

Parking lot for tour buses at the tunnel

Long tunnel to the elevator is cold inside

Shown in the photo below is the 3-ton marble slab above the door to the tunnel, which is engraved with the words "Erbaut 1938," which translates to "Built in 1938" in English.

Erbaut 1938 means the tunnel was built in 1938

The Eagle's Nest can be seen 124 meters above the tunnel entrance

The access tunnel, shown in the photo below is covered with marble from the Untersberg. Adolf Hitler walked through this tunnel at least 28 times on his 14 official visits to the Eagle's Nest.

At the end of this tunnel is an elevator to the Eagle's Nest

Hiker on his way down the steep trail leading to the tunnel

To the left of the tunnel, as you are facing it, is a path up the mountainside; a hardy person could climb to the top in 20 to 30 minutes.

It was Martin Bormann, Hitler's deputy, who first got the idea in April 1937 to build the Kehlsteinhaus and later directed its construction. He thought Hitler would enjoy having a new tea house on the top of the mountain because, in the days before the war, it was Hitler's custom to take a daily afternoon walk to a smaller tea house near his vacation home on the Obersalzberg when he was in residence there.

Elevator to Eagle's Nest

Interior of Eagle's Nest

Fireplace at Eagle's Nest

View from Eagle's Nest

Sun Terrace at Eagle's Nest

Mooslahnerkopf - Hitler's first tea house

Berghof - Hitler's house on the Obersalzberg

Hotel on the Obersalzberg

Exterior

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