The Location
Berchtesgaden and around
Located in a quiet but not-quite-remote corner of south-eastern Germany known as the Rupertiwinkel, the town of Berchtesgaden has been as much as anything associated with the National Socialist regime, in that it was in the nearby Obersalzberg that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and a number of his entourage chose to have second homes. Although the few remains of Hitler's house - the Berghof - have long since been removed, one can still see this history today, not only in the Kehlsteinhaus itself but also in the many small museums and other related places of interest.
While Hitler and his regime will be forever linked with the history of the town, it is worth noting that his reasons for moving to the region were in fact rather ordinary: as a man who disliked the city and the hustle and bustle of city life, his home on the Obersalzberg offered a haven of peace and tranquility. It is a feeling that many of us share, and it is indeed this feeling that makes the Berchtesgadener Land appealing to the tens of thousands who travel to the region every year.
Today an historic market town with a population of just over seven and a half thousand people sitting in the shadow of the Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden has all of the facilities one would expect of any large town; as well as a number of excellent hotels, one can find many private houses offering bed and breakfast at reasonable rates - advertised as "Zimmer frei". This is in addition to the many excellent camp sites in and around the Nationalpark Berchtesgaden which offer excellent facilities. There a number of restaurants, from traditional Kneipen offering regional fare through to eating houses offering international cuisine.
As well as the Teehaus on the Kehlstein, there are plenty of nearby attractions on offer, including the Nationalpark Berchtesgaden, the scenic cable-car journey up the Jennerbahn, the historic salt mine and salt mine museum at the Salzbergwerk, and the many picture-postcard locations dotted around the crystal clear waters of the 7.7 kilometre long and 185 metre-deep Königssee (King's Lake).
On the shores of the Königssee can be found the tiny enclave of Sankt Bartholomä, whose claims to fame include its beautiful Baroque church and the famous fishery restaurant, the Fischerstüberl. Then of course there is the imposing Watzmann, at 2713 metres the tallest mountain in the region.