The day after getting to take an awesome tour to Neuschwanstein, I got to take another amazing tour. We first went up to Berchtesgaden to visit the Kehlsteinhaus (also known as the Eagle's Nest) and Berghof (Hitler's residence further down the mountain). We had to take a high powered bus that went really quickly up this winding road (where we all thought we were going to fall off the mountain) to get to an elevator that would take us the rest of the way up to the Kehlsteinhaus. The views were amazing. Technically we were still in Germany but most of the view looked down on the Austrian countryside. It was rather hard to believe that such a beautiful place was the retreat of someone so awful.
After eating lunch at a restaurant with sweeping views of the surrounding country from its walls of windows, we took our bus to Salzburg, Austria. We watched The Sound of Music along the way, which was pretty awesome. The first thing we saw when we stepped off the bus in Salzburg was giant Salzburg fortress on top of a hill. We then walked through the streets of the "old town" district. The streets were very narrow and only pedestrians and bicycles were allowed - no cars. We visited the Salzburg Cathedral and saw Westminster Abbey where a orchestra started playing inside while we were there. The oldest restaurant in Europe is also located nearby. We walked through the cemetery and saw the grave of Mozart's sister and then saw Mozart's house. We then went along the river and over a bridge which looks out onto the entire city of Salzburg. It was gorgeous.
Oldest restaurant in Salzburg
Westminster Abbey
Inside Westminster Abbey
Inside Westminster Abbey
Salzburg Fortress
Grave of Mozart's sister
Mozart's House
"New Town" District of Salzburg
Salzburg, Austria
Day 7 - Holocaust Archives of Munich
Today we visited the Holocaust Archives of Munich. We got to have a tour of the archives where they showed us several diaries and letters that were from prisoners in concentration camps and from teens in Hitler's Youth Group. There was a log book from a chapter of a Hitler Youth Group that was rather shocking to see - children talking about how they looked up to Hitler and how Himmler had such good ideas.
This document has King Wilhelm II signature
Diaries of a 13 year old girl who was apart of the Hitler Youth. She wrote about the speeches Hitler gave that she loved. She continued her diaries throughout the war and eventually was dating a soldier who later died in the war. Her remaining diary entries were addressed to him.
Log of a Hitler Youth Group. This entry is about a mock battle.
The Jewish star patch of Gerty Spiers. Her star, armpatch, and writings from when she was sent to a ghetto were all donated to the archives.
Afterwards we went to a Biergarten for dinner. They ordered giant sampler platters for every table. The food was delicious but there was sooooo much of it.
Those views are INSANELY gorgeous!
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