Berchtesgaden Private Walking Tour

This quaint alpine village has seen millennia of history and was named after a pagan Goddess.

Highlights

Ancestral importance of the salt mines

Stone age inhabitants

First historical records in 1102

Origin of the name connected to a pre-Christian Alpine Goddess named Perchta

Prince provosty of Berchtesgaden and Emperor Barbarossa

30 Years War *Secularization and annexation to Bavaria

Royal residency and the arrival of tourism in the 19th century

Why it was Prince-Regent Luitpolds favorite hunting location every autumn

A favorite place among artists like Carl Rottmann, Caspar David Friedrich, Ludwig Ganghofer, and the Norwegian authors Jonas Lie and Henrik Ibsen

First World War and the Republic of Weimar

The second official residence of the crown princes of Bavaria until the rise of Hitler to power

The nazis and the arrival of Hitler

Hitler’s mentor Dietrich Eckart and his relation to Berchtesgaden

Berchtesgaden Meeting of 1938

Obersalzberg and the building of the nazi headquarters

Eagles Nest (Kehlsteinhaus)

Berchtesgaden as a symbol of nazi power

Allied bombardment and the survival of the city

American military base from ‘45 until ‘96

Transformation of Berchtesgaden into a National Park and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

From prehistory to Celtic times, early medieval to the nazi rule, Berchtesgaden stayed a hotspot. As a town, its roots go back to 1102 AD, and its existence is deeply connected to the salt mines in this town that enriched the entire region, therefore passing hands from nobility and clergy until it joined Bavaria in 1810. On the foothills of the famous Watzmann mountain seen in “The Sound of Music”, it is no wonder that even the bavarian royalty chose it as one of their residences. Later on, Adolf Hitler took an interest as well, later building his mountain residence at Obersalzberg and making Berchtesgaden a nazi stronghold during World War II.

The war did not hinder the beauty of this city, fortunately, and today we can enjoy its fresh mountain air as clean as it ever was. This tour will give all the hindsight on these and many more details, stories and less known facts about a little alpine town that once had a hand in international affairs.

Points of Interest

• Market Square (Marktplatz)

• Market Street (MarktStraße)

• Town Hall (Rathaus)

• Monkey Facade

• Mother and Child Fountain (Mutter-Kind-Brunnen)

• Deer House (Hirschenhaus)

• Gasthof Neuhaus

• Well Ducats Fountain

• Calves Hill (Kälberstein)

• Brine Line Cliff Walk (Soleleitungssteg)

• Christmas Shooters Square (Weihnachtsschützenplatz)

• View of the Schloss Berchtesgaden (Royal Palace & Collegiate Church)