German WWII Locations - 2024 (1 Viewer)

[Combat]

I just returned from a couple of weeks in Germany where I had a chance to visit several of the WWII-related locations. I'll try to post some pictures but my observations starting with Berlin:

Berlin

New & Old Reich Chancellery: The enormous Reich Chancellery complex has been completely erased from existence. Replaced with apartments, office buildings, and store fronts. I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant that would have been located approximately between the entrance of the New Reich Chancellery and the interior courtyard. Surreal to think that Hitler's thousand-year Reich has been replaced by a series of Asian restaurants.

Fuhrer bunker: Just behind the buildings that have replaced the Old Chancellery is the location of Hitler's bunker where he met his demise. It's now a parking lot for an ordinary apartment complex. Other than the groups of tourists standing around it would be impossible to know that anything had ever happened there.

Reichstag: The exterior of the building is magnificent. Iconic. Unfortunately, the interior has been completely remodeled in a horrific modern way that is ghastly. My assumption is that the Germans did this intentionally to avoid any link to the Nazi era believing, erroneously in my opinion, that the more classic architecture is linked to that era. The roof top, however, is magnificent. Fantastic views. One of the great things about visiting the actual locations is that you gain a new perspective. I always assumed that the iconic photo of the Soviets raising the flag over the Reichstag was taken at the front of the Reichstag facing the Tiergarten in the direction from which the Russians stormed the building. After walking around the roof, however, and matching it to the photo it appears that the flag was raised on the backside of the Reichstag facing downtown Berlin.

Brandenburg Gate: I stayed at the Hotel Adlon just adjacent to the gate. Iconic. Napoleon came through the gate in the 1800s. In stark contrast to the WWII era images of swastika flags hanging from the gate as thousands of torch bearing SA marched through the gate, there was a pro-Israel rally going on there last week.

Anhalter Bahnhof: The only thing that remains of the great train station after it was bombed and then razed is the exterior entryway. A short walk away is a "bunker" museum that can be toured. That bunker housed several thousand Germans during the battle of Berlin.

Invalids Cemetery - Final resting place of many historical Prussian and Nazi era figure including Schanhorst, Udet, Todt, and most infamously Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich is buried in an unmarked grave. Several years ago someone tried to dig it up. Very chilling to be standing at the grave of the architect of the Holocaust. The more that you learn about the pre and early war years, the more that you discover that Heydrich was involved in the planning of almost every major event.

Goring's Air Ministry - Ironically one of the few WWII-era buildings to survive bombing. It's now an austere looking government finance building. The SS/Gestapo HQs on the notorious Prinz-Albrecht Strasse is just a block away. It is completely gone but there is a sort of museum there that can be toured.

 

[Combat]

Dresden and Nuremberg: I spent a couple of days in both places. Most of these cities were completely destroyed in the bombing. Everything there now was rebuilt after the war including the "ancient" buildings. The old/new vibe is very odd. The major war-related location was in Nuremberg. Visiting the Nazi "rally" grounds. Completely new perspective to see it in person. The unfinished "Kongress Hall" which is under renovation like just about every other place in Germany. Most notable was the Zepplin Field grandstand where you can stand in the same location as Hitler as the troops marched past. Another surreal place. The Americans famously blew up the large swastika above the grandstand. It is still in pretty decent shape but must have been murder to sit on those concrete seats for hours. Across the lake is the famous stadium where much of the Leni Riefenstahl propaganda documentary "Triumph of the Will" was filmed. I was hoping to see the Palace of Justice where the trials were conducted but didn't have time.

 

[Combat]

Munich: This is THE city to visit to learn about the period between WWI and WWII. The Nazi party related locations from that era are everywhere. It takes a good tour guide to point many of them out, however. The third floor of the now touristy Hofbrauhaus is where Hitler often spoke before and after his rise to power. You can climb the front stairs to at least see into the room. The point at which the Beer Hall Putsch came to a halt is clearly visible near the Odeonsplatz adjacent to the Feldherrnhalle monument. The Nazis commemorated the event like a religious experience placing plaques and memorials at the location. The place where they were mounted can still be seen. Those passing by the memorial in the Nazi era where required to give the Hitler salute. The two lions on either side of the front steps to the Feldherrnhalle are the same that can be seen in many photos and films taken of Hitler speaking from the location. You can also find Hitler's location in the famous Odeonsplatz photo taken by Hoffman in 1914 by comparing it to the adjacent church.

Many of the Nazi era building were destroyed. Like the Bergerbraukeller beer hall where the beer hall putsch began in 1923 and where Hitler was nearly assassinated by Georg Elser's bomb in 1939. There is a memorial to Elser in Berlin in the vicinity of the location of the Old Reich Chancellery but it is very difficult to see unless someone points it out.

One of the more bizarre memorials in Munich is the Chicago gangster-like body outline on the ground at the place where Kurt Eisner was assassinated in 1919.

The interwar period is a fascinating and lesser-known period in the Nazi era. I strongly recommend Volume 1 of the Richard Evans Third Reich trilogy "The Coming of the Third Reich" for background. It goes a long way to explain how and why the Nazis came to power and the many lesser-known individuals who played significant roles in the early years of the party.

 

[BHogan]

Thanks for the location reviews/tips. Certainly, helpful for planning a trip to visit Second World War-related sites in Germany.

Brendan

 

[Combat]

Berschtesgarten: About a three-hour drive from Munich. All I can is wow. Surreal to visit for anyone who has ever watched those old films of Hitler and the Nazis lounging about on the patio of the Berghof with the mountains in the background.

My first stop was the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest). A tea house constructed for Hitler on a ridge with spectacular views over the entire area. Hitler only visited it a few times. A bus takes you to a long tunnel that is used to access an elevator that takes you up to the top. The same elevator that Hitler and other Nazis would have taken. The building itself is rather mundane but has a nice restaurant and some of the most spectacular views imaginable. Eva Braun's sister held a wedding reception in the building in 1944 when she married Herman Fegelien. The infamous and unfortunate "Fegelien, Fegelien, Fegelien!" from "Downfall." I think a lot of people confuse the Eagle's Nest with Hitler's actual home the Berghof.

There is a "documentation" center down at the bottom of the ridge with displays and overview about the war. Most notable is access to the underground bunker system which was extensive in the area given the homes of many high-ranking Nazis.

When I finished the documentation center, the tour guide casually asked if I wanted to see the actual remains of the Berghof. I said Holy Sh*t not realizing we were only about a minute walk from the site. He pointed toward a path in the woods and I walked down a small hill to the very sight of the Berghof. All that remains is the foundation. The famous stairs are almost completely gone. It occurred to me that I was there on Sept. 1. The 85th anniversary of the beginning of WWII. Standing alone at the Berghof. I walked up the remnants of the stairs. Found the location of the interior fireplace where so many monumental decisions were made in the 20th century. Absolutely surreal.

We stopped in the small town but it was anticlimactic. Not a great deal to see there. The infamous anti-Semite Dietrich Eckart is buried in the local cemetery. Another of those now nearly forgotten influences on Hiter.

 

[Panzer ace]

Absolutely spectacular descriptions.

Your writings and reviews are must reads.

Thanks for sharing your travel experiences.

 

[Andanna]

This is a fantastic report of a memorable trip. Interestingly you clearly focused on the political sites rather than any „battlefields“ taken your avatar. But your assessment that Germany has tried very hard over the last decades to not offer the neo nazis any opportunity to romanticize any of these more political locations is correct. You did the absolute right thing in taking guides in order to locate these places. Jealous you stayed at the Adlon.

Unfortunately, the destruction and removal of some of these potential nazi memorials seem to have been insufficient to eliminate right wing movements in Germany as the last elections in eastern German states showed.

 

[Combat]

This is a fantastic report of a memorable trip. Interestingly you clearly focused on the political sites rather than any „battlefields“ taken your avatar. But your assessment that Germany has tried very hard over the last decades to not offer the neo nazis any opportunity to romanticize any of these more political locations is correct. You did the absolute right thing in taking guides in order to locate these places. Jealous you stayed at the Adlon.

Unfortunately, the destruction and removal of some of these potential nazi memorials seem to have been insufficient to eliminate right wing movements in Germany as the last elections in eastern German states showed.

I think there is a thin line between understandable sensitivity to Nazi-related sites that can be used for rallying points and unnecessary censorship for self-serving political purposes. I know some folks on this forum have not been able to advertise WWII-related toy soldiers on ebay because of the German laws. My guide in Munich mentioned that some Hindu groups had requested permission to use the swastika in various ways because it is a symbol that long pre-dates the Nazis but been denied. One such person was even arrested because he left his curtains open and an item with a swastika could be seen from the street in his home. Spent three years in jail. Given how the American media and legal system has worked in recent years, I have no confidence in governments enforcing these laws in ways other than to further their own benefit.

 

[Combat]

Below are some pictures of the Berghof as it existed on the 85th anniversary of beginning of WWII. The only thing that remains is the foundation wall that would have run along the back of the building.

 

[Combat]

The remains of the famous steps at the Berghof that so many infamous Nazis and foreign politicians ascended. And the view from the patio as seen today.

 

[Combat]

The Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) with views all the way to Salzburg, Austria and Feldherrnhalle monument in Munich at the point at which the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch came to an end. The Nazis placed a memorial with honor guard along this wall.

 

[Combat]

Heydrich's unmarked grave in Berlin and Hitler's podium at the Nuremberg rally grounds.

 

[OzDigger]

The remains of the famous steps at the Berghof that so many infamous Nazis and foreign politicians ascended. And the view from the patio as seen today.

Including the tour of The Reich by Edward VIII on 22nd October, 1937, an 'interesting' part of history that is often forgotten.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_tour_of_Germany_by_the_Duke_and_Duchess_of_Windsor

 

[Combat]

The Festsaal on the third floor of Hofbrauhaus where Hitler made some of his early speeches. And "Second" Reich Chancellery building near Berchtesgarten. Notice that the Nazi eagle is still on the building sans the swastika.

 

[Terp152]

Below are some pictures of the Berghof as it existed on the 85th anniversary of beginning of WWII. The only thing that remains is the foundation wall that would have run along the back of the building.

Very interesting account and pics of your visit. Thanks for sharing. Brings back memories when I visited Obersalzburg in 1980. You could still peer into the basement of the Berghof at that time. Stayed in the General Walker Hotel which was the Nazi hotel built during Hitler's rule. We toured the underground bunkers which were quite extensive. It's since been returned to the Germans, don't know if it is still standing.