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Obersalzberg
Other Miscellaneous Buildings
The
Obersalzberg quickly became a popular destination for touring youth
groups, and in 1939 a hostel building was erected for visiting
Hitler Jugend (HJ) and Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) groups (click here
to see a photo of one such visit). This Jugendverpflegshaus (or
Jugendpflegeheim) was a wooden
building with kitchens, baths, storage, and other rooms in the basement.
The building was located at the curve on the
Obersalzberg road, downhill from the Platterhof, at the entrance to the
Antenberg area. I have not seen a period photo of this building, but the
artist's rendition above is from a 1941 illustrated map.
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two crops from May 1945 U.S. reconnaissance photos show the bomb damage
to the Jugendverpflegshaus. (U.S. National Archives) |
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Two housing complexes
were built in the Obersalzberg area for military families and civilian support staff.
These were the Klaushöhe and Buchenhöhe settlements, east of Hintereck. Both areas were
damaged by the April 1945 bombing, but have been partially rebuilt and used as multi-family rentals
since the war (immediately following the war they served as refugee housing). These photos
show the Klaushöhe settlement, for married SS guard members. (Dokumentation
Obersalzberg) (MapQuest
Map Link) |
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father photographed the Klaushöhe and Buchenhöhe settlements when he
visited the Obersalzberg in 1946. On the left, a partial view of the
same buildings as seen in the period photo above (compare the building
at the left edge in both photos), with the Hoher Göll mountain behind.
Note the ruined houses in the background. On the right, a view of the
Buchenhöhe ruins in the distance, as seen from the Klaushöhe parking
lot. (photos by Lt. Delbert R. Walden, USAAF, collection of
G.R. and G.A. Walden) |
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two crops from a May 1945 U.S. reconnassaince photo show (left) the Klaushöhe
settlement, and (right) the workers camp that was located between Klaushöhe
and Buchenhöhe. Various ruins can be found in this area today
(below). (above - U.S. Natonal Archives; below - courtesy Ralf
Hornberger) |
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An artist's portrayal of the Buchenhöhe
and Klaushöhe settlements, from a 1941 illustrated map of the Obersalzberg. It
should be noted that not all of the buildings shown here were completed or even
started.
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The Buchenhöhe
settlement was somewhat larger, for families of the Obersalzberg support staff. The
settlement included multi-family dwellings and community buildings. Many of
the buildings that were damaged in the bombing attack were torn down and
rebuilt, and several post-war buildings are now used as an asthma
treatment center.
The remaining period
buildings on the main street show the unmistakable Third Reich architectural style. |
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| This
postcard view from the 1950s shows one of the main Buchenhöhe
buildings, still with its camouflage paint on the walls. (author's
collection) |
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Some of
the bombed Buchenhöhe house ruins were not rebuilt or removed, and remain
today on the edge of the village. (MapQuest
Map Link) |
This period photo shows a Skoda-made
Menck & Hambrock excavator in use at the Buchenhöhe site by the construction company Phillip Holzmann AG.
(photo courtesy Andreas Beck & Leo Helmschrott, Beck
& Helmschrott GbR,
source the www.baggerfreunde.de
webpage; thanks to Mario Blersch for identifying the location seen here)
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Polensky & Zöllner construction firm was responsible for many of
the roadways and bridges in the Obersalzberg area. Their markings can
still be seen on some of the area bridges - this is the bridge over the
Larosbach stream near the Buchenhöhe
settlement. (My thanks to Frau Ingrid Scharfenberg for this
information.) (MapQuest
Map Link) |
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Another of Martin
Bormann's building projects in the area was the Alpenstraße, a scenic mountain road
designed to link Bodensee to the Königssee, through the Bavarian Alps. This Alpine Road
was actually started in 1927, and was not completed until the 1950s, at which time this
1930s portion of the road was bypassed. These remains of the Third Reich period roadway,
including a pedestrian underpass tunnel at a popular hiking trail, can be seen on the
Scharitzkehlstraße southwest of the Obersalzberg, on the way to the Hinterbrand area and
the Scharitzkehlalm. |
A section of the Alpenstraße under construction,
similar to the section in the photos above.
(Dr.-Ing. Günther Werner-Ehrenfeucht, "75 Jahre Polensky & Zöllner,"
Frankfurt a.M., Brönners Druckerei, 1955)
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| A
curious structure that can be seen in various period photos on top of
the Bodnerbichl hill, overlooking the Platterhof
hotel, was apparently a large siren for air raid warning. This structure
can be seen at the top of the hill on the right side of the top photo of
the Platterhof complex (see close-ups below). In the 1945 photo below of
the damaged Platterhof, the siren structure can be seen on the hill
above the hotel, near a Moll-System
guard bunker. (above - photos by Ernst Baumann (author's
collection); below - U.S. Army photo, National Archives) |
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concrete remains on top of the Bodnerbichl appear to be remains of the
base of the siren structure. At any rate, they are in the correct
location. (I have not seen this siren or these remains identified in any
other publication.) |
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These masonry pillars formed a
gate at the Teugelbrunn roadway, downhill from the Gutshof.
The road led back into the meadows behind the Gutshof. A heavy oak gate between the stone
pillars kept the road normally closed. This gate marked the edge of Bormann's main area of
control, and the remains can be seen today in the woods on the left side of the road as
one climbs toward the Obersalzberg from Berchtesgaden. There was also an SS guard house located
near here, part of
the access control system of the outer Führer area on the Obersalzberg. |
For further information, including Internet links, check
the Bibliography page.
 Continue to other Obersalzberg sites - Hitler's
Berghof, Bormann's and Göring's houses, Platterhof, Gästehaus and Kampfhäusl, Hotel Zum Türken,
Gutshof and Teehaus,
Kehlsteinhaus, SS barracks, bunker system, other miscellaneous area
buildings.
Visit
Berchtesgaden / Obersalzberg area anti-aircraft (Flak) positions
Click here to visit
a page about the capture of German Gen. Tolsdorf by the 101st Airborne Div.,
near Hirschbichl, Austria.
Return to the Third Reich in Ruins homepage
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