What camp is this beside Hitlers Berghof ? 1945

[i.spring]

Hi guys.

Can some one please tell me what bombed settlement is shown in the back of this photo and also where was this wide broad street near Hitlers Berghof in 1945 ?

Many thanks.
Ian

source: Getty Images

[tylermclaren]

I was standing in this exact location 2 years ago I believe. The broad patch of concrete is the assembly area by tunnel that leads to the "golden" elevator up to the kehlsteinhaus (Eagles Nest).

The area behind the Berghof and Zum Turken is a massive SS barracks.

[Geoff Walden]

The bombed village is the Buchenhoehe settlement, some distance to the east of the Berghof, as seen from the walking path from the Kehlsteinhaus down to the parking area in front of the entrance tunnel.

http://www.thirdreichruins.com/miscbldgsosb2.htm#buchenhoehe

[tylermclaren]

The bombed village is the Buchenhoehe settlement, some distance to the east of the Berghof, as seen from the walking path from the Kehlsteinhaus down to the parking area in front of the entrance tunnel.

http://www.thirdreichruins.com/miscbldgsosb2.htm#buchenhoehe

Ah, ok thanks for that info. When I was standing on this parking area, we were above some fog / cloud formations, you couldn't really see down. Driving up there on those buses, you kind of lose all sense of direction and whats below.

The area though, just behind the Zum Turken (next door to the Berghof) is where the SS complex was. I know it took a lot of Damage when they hit the Berghof, so did the Turken.

[Geoff Walden]

Right you are! There is nothing left of the SS Kaserne now. In 2001-2003 the Bavarian government removed all the basements, the original wooden parquet floor of the exercise hall, the sub-basement connecting tunnels, the underground bomb shelter ruins, and even the underground shooting range.

http://www.thirdreichruins.com/ssbarracks.htm

[Br. James]

Ah yes, the history that is lost to us now... Thank you, Geoff, my friend. It makes me glad that I had the opportunity to visit Germany and the Obersalzberg in 1997, before all the "renewal" began. The Gen. Walker Hotel was still intact back then, though the USArmy had withdrawn and left the place to the German government and it was locked up tight -- I was unable to get inside, but I did actually see it complete. Great memories!

Br. James

[max history]

You should have been there in the 1970s and 80s! The ruins were "intact". You could get inside the Berghof garage and the main garage between the old SS barracks and the Platterhof. We had a kick about on the grass area where the SS exercise gymnasium Geoff refers to stood, and the original wooden parquet floor was still visible in places. When the US army withdrew, the Hotel General Walker was not handed over to the Bavarian Government as you state. It became a hotel for US Christian religious groups - a type of summer camp. They would not accept German DMs in the bar - still only US dollars! So we had to exchange some money to get a drink! Goring's ruin was still there also and you could make out the shape of his swimming pool. Even the ruined guesthouse was there down the path beside Speer's former studio. Happy days foraging through the history of the place! Now gone forever.
Max.