Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest)
Viewpoint with panoramic views and contemporary history at 1,834 m
Photo: Petriukas / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Address
Kehlstein, 83471 Berchtesgaden; Busabfahrt: Parkplatz Obersalzberg, Salzbergstraße 45
GPS
47.6114, 13.0420
Web
A former Nazi-era reception building on the Kehlstein (built 1937–1938), today a restaurant offering a wide view over the Berchtesgaden Alps.
Highlights
- Panoramic view over the Berchtesgaden region, Watzmann and Untersberg
- Ascent via the spectacular Kehlstein road by special bus
- Historic brass lift through the rock tunnel
- A factual look at the Nazi history on the Obersalzberg
- Restaurant and café in the historic building
Good to know
| Elevation | approx. 1,834 m a.s.l. |
| Construction period | 1937–1938 |
| Architect | Roderich Fick |
| Kehlstein Road | 6.5 km, accessible only by special bus |
| Lift | Brass lift through a 124 m tunnel, ride approx. 41 seconds |
| Public since | 1952 |
Practical info
Getting there: By car to the Obersalzberg car park or by public transport (bus 838 from Berchtesgaden station), then the mandatory shuttle bus of the Kehlstein line; private vehicles are not allowed on the Kehlstein road.
Best time: Season approx. mid-May to late October; closed in winter. Choose clear days for the view.
Duration: Half a day incl. travel there and back, the view and a stop for refreshments
Cost: Kehlstein-line bus ticket payable (fare please verify); the lift is included in the ticket
Tips:
- Secure bus tickets in advance if possible, note the fixed return time
- Bring warm clothing, it's noticeably cooler at the top
- Visit the Obersalzberg Documentation beforehand for historical context
Background & History
The Kehlsteinhaus is perched at almost 1,800 metres on a rugged rocky head above the Obersalzberg and owes its dark fame to the history of the 20th century. The stone building, modelled on a mountain lodge, was erected at the end of the 1930s at the instigation of Martin Bormann and handed over to Adolf Hitler in 1939, serving him as a representative reception venue. In the English-speaking world the name “Eagle's Nest” quickly took hold, which sticks to this day, while the locals simply speak of the Kehlstein.
What remains remarkable above all is the engineering feat of the access: a road, boldly blasted into the rock, winds through several tunnels to a car park, from which a gilded brass lift leads through a shaft driven vertically into the mountain directly into the house, a construction completed in only about a year. Unlike the majority of the Nazi installations on the Obersalzberg, which were blown up and destroyed after the war, the Kehlsteinhaus survived the bombings almost unscathed and today serves as an excursion restaurant with an attached documentation site of remembrance. The view reaches far across the Berchtesgaden region to the Untersberg and into the Salzburg Alps, a panorama that lets the place shine in strange contrast to its past.
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