The Road
Slightly unsavoury as it may be today, we all have Martin Bormann, NSDAP Reichsleiter and Hitler's private secretary, to thank for the entire Kehlstein project.
It was Bormann who was the brain behind the idea for the construction of the Teehaus on the Kehlstein and, likewise, it was he who was ultimately responsible for the construction of the 6.5 kilometre (3.9 mile) long winding road from Obersalzberg to the Kehlsteinhaus car park - known as the Kehlsteinstrasse. It is true to say that given the time, expense and labour requirements it could have only taken a man of Bormann's influence and energy to take the project through to a successful conclusion.
Blasted out of solid rock and constructed over a period of thirteen months during 1937 and 1938, the spectacular Kehlsteinstrasse is still seen today as an amazing feat of engineering, and is the highest mountain road in Germany.