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27 JUN 1945
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HEAWUA RTERS XXI OORPS
Office of the Assft A. O. of S., G-2
c.. .. .
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" APO 101 U. S. AFMY

28 May 1945

- The Allied Armies over-running Germany have tUf,drJ

one by one, the closely guarded secrets of~he Nazi Regim
horrors of the concentration camps, the eagll talk~of t
great, the view of the country at cl>se-hand,'have Wiuced
mantic Super-Race mystics to the simple, matter-of-fact
e
1

•
that they are.
•
Perhaps the most closel~ guarded or-all • •
shouTd
Berchtesgaden, the home of the , Fuhrer, the cente ~ f the
Redoubt", the mountain fastness to which Hitle r . ld ret
"twilight of the Gods", to take his place among "lte legendary
man heroes . It didn't happen that way. The mountain retreat
without him and turned out to be a far more ordinary plaoe
rumor and Nazi propaganda had made i{. Their pretentions
seen for what they were, the attempts of very weak and morta ~
to satisfy their dreams of greatness. ~ ~

The dreams have crumbled. Invading Ame r ican t ~s

discove r ed some of the facts ~bout Berchtesgaden . Not all the •

That picture is indeed an interesting 4l!r'

story is told but enough ha s been learned to make the pictu r e ear.
~

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•'I
 ADLERHOF THE EAGLE'S
Ever since news of Adolph Hitler's mountain
refuge, his Eagle's Nest, on the 6,000-footsu=it of the
Kehlstein, came out of Nazi Germany, ~he world has been
curious about Der Fuhrer's lonely mountain perch. This
curiosity, deliberately stimulated by the Nazis them­
selves to brighten the aur~ of mystery built around Der
Fuhrer, made the name of !!~rGht'esgaden, the little town at
its foot, a symbol for what. tne' Na:zis billed as "the
ho ly mountain" 0 '"
The glamour scaled off, however, When life at
the Nest and on the Obersa'l:ybrg l .evel, half-way up the
mountainside, came to light. ' The'"mountain fastness,
Obersalzberg colony and Eagle's Nest, which Nazi propa­
ganda pictured as the nerve-center ofihe so-called
If Redoubt Area lf Was taken on 4 May 194.5 without serious
resistance by the XV Oorps' Third Division. It Was the
mission of the XXI Oorps to take Berchtesgaden and the
mountain but, as the rapidly changing situation developed,
it Was more expedient to have the Third Division move on
the town and accordingly 7th Army Headquarters so directed.
Subsequently Berchtesgaden WaS assigned to Major ,
General Milburn's XXI Oorps se'ctor. On 9 May 1945 Oolonel
Vance Batchelor, Oorps G-2, sent a Target Fqrce to Berch­
tesgaden to secure certain targets and "to f,ind uut as much
as possible about the life that the Nazi hierarchy led
there. •.
- - ~ ~,.,
- -"-'­
The Ke»iaj~i~n~s e mountain top was named
by the Germans, fIll~mtarils r ep resented, a "Nest" or
refuge where Der--IlUn rer or t he Super-Race withd rew for
inspiration or solitary contemplation. In f act, Hitler
went up to h is lonely lodge on only four occasions and on
t hose r ema ine d fo r only two or three hours. He did not
like t he altitude and complained that it bothered his heart.
Der Fuh rer's last visit to his mountain lodge
Was in the autumn of 1943 with Oount Oiano, Mussolini's
son-in-law : ' Hi S visits to his more pretentious Ob e rsalz­
berg house, ma de famous by its enormous f ront Window, be­
came progressively fewer and shorter a s German reverses
grew in numbe r and magnitude. And when he left 10 July
1944, it WaS neve r to return again. Othe r Nazi big-wigs
went to t he Obersalzberg colony le ss and less frequently
du ring t he last two years of the war.
•
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 CONFIDENTIAL

That i s what Berchtesgaden towns people said.

They were pretty su re when Hit ler was on the mountain and
when he left, at least, in h is hey- day . Hi s visits were
almost always pre ceded by purchasing agents who bought up
every delicacy and almost everything else edible in town .

His specia l train would always be standing in

the railroad ya r ds in the morning and would lie in waiting
until as sec retly as it came in the night it would dis­
appear in the night, signalling his arrival and departure.
But despite 88 Troops, Gestapo and in forme rs, the g rape­
vine telegraph never failed to give them such vital local
news .

From time to time certain guests selected with

calculated intent for the propaganda values, were "pe r­
mi tted" to visit the Eagle's Nest amidst panoply designed
to impress with Nazi ac hievements. It worked because
visiting dignita ri es were duly impressed and the name
Berchtesgaden sp read far and wide .

Hermann Goe ring and Heinrich Hi mmler eaoh went

up twice and Goebbels on l y once. Whether they were to­
gether on any of these occasions is a question. But
Martin Bormann, Rei chs l eiter or leader of t he Nazi Party
for Hitler, Was a f requent visitor.

, ' .

, -THREE VIEWS FROM THE AI R­

.'
THE EAGLE'S NEST FROM THE NORTHWEST
AND FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
THE VALLEY BELOW THE CRAG'S OF THE
KEHLSTEIN RIDGE.

 CONFIDENTIAL

This information Was supplied by George Mehr,

who operated and maintained the elevator.

Mehr denied that Mussolini ever went to the

TEA FOR TWO
Eagle's Nest with Hitler.

None of the visitors Were ever known to stay over

night. Indeed, no f a cilities, such as beds, were found in
the lodge. On only one occasion as far as can be deter­
mined Was a party thrown. That Was a wedding feast for the
sister of Eva Braun, Hitler's friend.
During Hitler's visits, however, no one Was per­
mitted to smoke or drink, according to most reliable re­
From Hitler's house, and also Goering's,
there Was a small railed path with an asphalt surface
that followod the contour of the mountain to the lower
part of the western side. This Was a two-mile walk ending
in a secluded little tea house.
This Was Hitler's Lovers' Lane, the path he

ports. These added that Hitler himself ate only vegetables liked to wander down for tea, with his friend, Eva

and drank only water, fruit juices or Apollinaris water, . Braun. Servants said he wa s also in the habit of walking.
quantities of which Were found in the cellar along with down to the tea house every day for exercise and being
supplies of dried vegetables. • driven back to the Berghof by his guards.

It Was a myth that the area Was a redoubt at all.

The elaborate system of tunnels which honeycombed the moun­
tain was not completed. They had ventilating "lys.tems, hot
and cold running water, and electric light and heat but
they were neither adequately armed nor stocked with suffi­
cient foodstuff to withstand effectively any kind of a pro­
tracted modern siege. One attack of three Waves by the
RAF on 25 April 1945 was enough to reduce the Obe rsalzberg
....9-Q.lony.-4;o- llnambl: es, although failin g - tn~ th a
direct hit - even to crack the tunnels. The Eagles NeBt, ­
however, escap ed any damage.
The labyrinthine tunnels, with every copvenience
The mystery of whether secret tunnels existed
for living comfortably during a sustained air attack, gave
remained des pite a systematic and extensive search in
plenty of room for suspicion that somewhere in t he depths
those whose surf ace openin gs were apparent. Every tunnel
of that mountain Nazi big-Wigs, even Hitler himself, mi ght
' visited showed signs of ha ving b~en ransacked by troops be sheltered pending a propitious moment for escape. There
who scattered everything far and wide in their search for Were long incompleted passageways on which half-filled stone
secret panels leading to apartments where t hose with high Cara still remained on t heir tracks and deep shafts whose
priority on the list of Nazi "Wanted" mi ght be eluding inky blackness GI flashlights could not penetrate and whose
Allied captu.re •.. depths returned only delayed and hollow echoes to GI shouts •

•
CONFIDENTIAL

 CONFIDENTIAL

• ".B\lt the ,b Lgj oQ ws, s the .£ linking of an e l evato r

shaft ' th~~'ugh more,:than400 ·fee"t'io (~~i.id r;c\i •. " This
r equ ired the cutt ing of anothe r tunne l, a l a r ge spacious
vau lt ed affai r, f o,r aq.o,ui;: 500, feet frOll) ,t he entran ce on
the side of the mounta in to the b.a~e ,of the, shs,,ft.

The Tea Hous e Was built on a r ocky.. pra g 1, 822

mete r s , or 6, 013 'fee t, ab ove sea l eve l. . Thi s Was 205
fee t be low the hi ghest point on the mounta in but offered
a bett e r vi ew o f. the su rroun ding peaks. and va ll eys.
The r e WaS a pre c ipito us dr op f ro m the li ving room win­
doWS t o the va ll ey f l oor.

ALONG ,THE SIDE OF EAGLE'S NEST STAIRS LEAD

TO: THE FOOTPATH DOWN THE MOUNTAIN .

.t The idea of bui ldi ng on the Keh l ste in, WaS not
Hit l e r' s . It was Bormann ' s . I t was Bormann 'who suggested
MAIN ROOM FROM A POINT ON THE FOOTPATH.
NOTE CAMOUFLAGE ON THE RIGHT.

I
buildin g the r e the Teehaus, o r Tea House , wi th Nazi Pa rty
funds as p gift to De r Fuh r e r and rt Was not until Hi t l er
gave the OK on his gift that the p re li mi~a ry wo r k on the
ro ads and tunnels Was started in 1936 . The Ea gle ' s. Nest ,
a monument that the worke r s were t ol d Was designed to l ast
1,000 years, WaS n ot compl eted until June of 1939 . Du r i ng
i ts construction Bormann li te~al ly haun ted the j ob.

The pr oject of r eaching the Kehlstein involved the

construction of a two - lane, black t0P road hewn fo r almost
four mi les from the ro cky sides of the mounta i n, with f i ve
tunnels and innumerable r etaining wa l ls to pr event land­
s l ides . The T Force found t hat , despite the l atte r , at
least three lands l ides had comp l ete l y ob lite r ated t he road
during the winte r. In addit ion, another r oad f or the hau l­
i ng of materials and supp l ies WaS also built.

CONFIDENTIAL

 CONFIDENTIAL

A gravelled and fenced path led from the Tea
House 1,000 yards across the summit of the ridge to the
top-most crag. This little promenade which gave one the
feeling of walking on the roof of the wo rld had little
appeai to Hitler. His attendants said he walked only a
short distance out on the path on one visit and nervously
turned around and returned.
From Berchtesgaden and to those toiling up the
mountain the most striking feature of the Kehlsteinhaus
was what appeared to be the octagonal shaped front, facing
Northwest. That Was the living room which Was actually
circular inside and flat on the side joined with the re st
of the building. The structure WaS so well designed that
it blended in lihe and color with the rock in which it WaS
/
rooted.
This effect held true for t he building from the
vantage point o f the highe r crag on the mountain, except
that the Tea House , as the very mountain i ts'elf, tended
to lose its pa rticularity in the' vastness of the surround­
ings.
From the windows Hitler had a 180 degree pano­
rama of the surrounding mountain peaks and the valleys
Which dropped so precipitously. The room itself, with
its windows cut through the six-foot walls, Was the last
word in luxuriou s l y finished accoutrements. In all, it
contained 18 large upholstered chair~, three Wicker deck
chairs witn-pads and pillows, six marble topped table~,
one ra dio and one combination r adio-phonograph .
The fl oor was of selected flagstone l a id on
concrete. The ceiling height Was 14 feet. Two 14 x 18
inc h Wooden beams supported 8 x 8 inch cross beams, all
beautifully burnished g raine d wood. The room Was devoid
of decoration, except perhaps the beautiful brass candel­
abra on the walls and the magnificent red marble fireplace.
There Were seven clusters of candelabra, five with six
beeswax candles and two with four. Hidden in the base of
each Was an electric li ght . It WaS reporte d that an old
tapes try or painting hun g over the fireplace.

The Nest it se lf Was 8, lonE; , low and subs tantial

structure. It Was a lo dge, not hing more and nothing less,
with proportions commensurate with the magnitu de of its
setting, most of the g ranite walls measuring more than six
feet in thickness. Its roof Was in the style of a Swiss THE EAGLE'S NEST AS IT LOOKED. TO THOSE
chalet wit~ wide overhanging eaves. Its lines we re hori­ CLIMBING THE KEHLSTEIN PEAK.
zontal, not verticaL Just as Hitler h im self reached out
and not up.

Most i mp re ssive feature o f this re t reat Was the

huge living room, 45 feet in diameter, Whose six enormous
Windows were opened by being lo ~ ered by chains to the
cellar below . It had only two outlets, one up six steps to
the dinin g room and the other down e i ght to the tea room.
The ,w hole room gave a definite impression of sheer massive­
ness and austere simplicity.

CONFIDENTIAL

 CONFIDENTIA~
The mantle of the fireplace Was one block of
marble fourteen feet long. In the back of the firebox
Was the only ' sculpture in the room, two wrought iron
plates with bas relief figures of two nude women riding
horses. The fireplace WaS raised about a foot and a half
above the floor level on a granite stone. In front of it
Was a semi-circular davenport sixteen feet long flanked
by two massive stuffed armchairs.
In the' center of the room WaS a circular table
ten feet in diame~er. And in keeping with the horizon­
r tal lines of the room it Was only two feet high. The,
floor Was covered with a soft rug approximately 25 x 35
] feet, obviously hand-woven. Its rich colors abounded
in shades of - green, gray, blue and brown.
NUMBER PLEASE?
Telephone directories for the Obersalzberg
colony found in a guesthouse near the Berghof, Hitler's
house, listed two numbers for Der Fuhrer. uFuhrer
Arbeitszimrner u, which means "Leader's Workroom", Was
501 and "Fuhrer Schlafzimmer", or uLeader's Bedroom",
601.
Ubiquitous GIs tried to put through a call
and found that the Wires were out. The last of the
143 numbers listed WaS 609 for Hitler's workroom at the
Eagle's Nest. It WaS preceded by Reichsmarshall Goering's
number, 608.
I CONFIDENTIAL
t~
The automatic selection buttons of the radio
did not include London, although the panel did indicate
that the Fuhrer could. get the BBe and even New York, if
he cared to turn the dials. The places .for which there
were automatic selection buttons were Konigsburg, Bres­
lau, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Koln, Stuttgart
and Deutschland Sender.
The chestnut-panelled dining hall had ~qually
simple lines. Its long table seated thirteen persons on
each side and two at the ends, a total of thirty. On
one side of the room Was a stained cupboard, and on the
other, double-paned windows looking down on a walk bor­
dered by five large granite arches with a view to the
West. The room WaS carpeted with a heavy rUg 15 x 40
feet with an infinite variety of shades in which red
predominated.
The kitchen Was complete with everything
imaginable for the preparation of food. Everything
Was electric. The walls Were white tile and the floor
selected flagstone. The chinaware, a numbered set, WaS
decorated with a beautiful red and gold flying dragon
pattern.
The only edibles found in the kitchen, how­
ever, Were dried vegetables and cereals, cane of baby
beets, carrots and spinach and jare of' preserv9d cher­
ries and other fruits. There Wae plenty of' sugar,
about f'orty pounds, and some real coffee, contraeting
with the scarcity of the latter in the reet of' Germany.
Despite Hitler's own total abstinence - of'
which there Was abundant testimony from servante - cup­
boards throughout the lodge had been stocked with choice
Wines and liqueurs. They Were replete with Napoleon
brandy and othere of rare vintage. In the cell~r, how­
ever, were large reserves of Apollinaris water and de­
licious bottled fruit juices.

 CONFIDENTIAL
The little tea room down from the living room
WaS finished in knotted pine. On one side it looked out
on the mountains to the west. Through this room one could
reach the arch-bordered walk which paralleled the dining
hall.
Hitler's study and lounge which adj·Qined the
dining hall in the rear WaS simply decorated with dark
stained wainscoating. It Was rather dark and sombre,
light coming in from only one side.
The lodge WaS conspicuous for its absence of
books and recreational facilities. Other than the radios,
phonograph and scenery there Were none. Several large
pads of expensive sketching paper Were found in the liv­
ing room,which Were probably there for the convenience
of Hitler's once frustrated aspirations.
Everything Was new, brand new, and even the fur­
niture gave the appearance of having just come from the
manufacturer. It looked as though it needed living and
the warmth that human living could give it.
EVen the cables of the elevator showed little
Wear. Workmen found in the. village explained that the
elevator WaS never satisfactory in cold weather in that
altitude.
The basement consisted of a room with two beds
for the guards, storage rooms with refrigerators and
more toilets. In the guard's room Were found tw~ 20­
pfennig pulp romance magazines and incompleted cross­
word puzzles. On the wall Was the Crass of Lorraine,
crudely carved by visiting French soldiers.
CONFIDENTIAL
Obersalzberg workers had definite opinions
about t he ir maste rs and showed no hesitancy in express­
ing them to the T Force interpreters.
Most of them spoke of Hitler with obvious rev­
erence in their voices but two "Stammerbeiter", or reg­
ular employees, cha racterized him along with Himmler and
Bo rmann as "mean".
They declared that When Hitler flew into a
rage he would chew on a rug or anything he could get h i's
teeth into and sometimes beat hi·s dog.
George Mehr, elevator operator at the Ea g le's
Nest, spoke we ll of Hitler and Goering but evi denced
keen dislike for Bormann. He said that on several oc­
casions Bormann telephoned to him at 2:30 o'clock in the
morning to say· that he and his family would ascend to
the Keh lsteinhaus to see the sunrise and on each occasion
failed · to show up.
A telephone technician named Loder told of
Bormann's forcing Frau Bormann and the children out of
their Obersalzburg hou se at five o'clock in the morning
and forcing them to flee to Munich. He added that Bor­
mann got along very well, however, with screen actresses
Whom he invited to the mountain frequently.
Loder also said that Bo·rmann Was a heavy
eater and drinker. His favorite drink Was cognac and
he Was known to lock himself up in his room for extended
sprees.
After having dinner with Hitler, a strict
vegetarian, Loder declared Bormann returned to his oWn
home to gorge himself with roast goo.se and cognac.
Mrs. Zynchski, Goering's housekeeper, reported
that Goering disliked both Himmler and Bormann. Bormann
WaS heard by others to declare that he "made" Himmler.·

 CONFIDENTIAL

Hitler's

Kitchen St"dY~ 010'0. He II

--_." . -~-- .....­ Li ving R oom

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,­

I
140'

EAGLES NEST

Investigation revealed that the elevator which
WaS found suspended slightly above the shaft Was intact
except fo r minor repair. A heavy steel bar which had
been dropped down the concrete encased shaft to immobilize
the ap pa ratus had broken a panel from the roof of the cab.
Bags of sand, bits of wood and other objects easily ob­
tained which had been tossed down by capricLous soldiers
had damaged other parts, none seriously. Engineers esti­
mated that it could be restored in go od working order in
about two weeks.

I CONFIDENTIAL
 CONFIDENTIAL

The elaborate electrical machinery with intri­
cate wiring, the generators and diesel engines housed
deep in the mountain were all in good c on~ition, needing
only the normal adjustments and overhauling that a winter
in the cold of the high altitude would necessitate.
This section Was a plain gray painted box without any
seats that Was used for servants and the transportation of
supplies. Above it and actually a part of the two­
compartment cage Was the section reserved fo r Hitler,
Party guests and their friends.

No one had been able to enter the bottom of the
shaft. The outer pair of the locked doub le sets of heavy
bronze doors had been sprung by a l a r ge rock wedged be­
tween the top of one door and a great snow drift that
almost completely covered the portal.
Entry Was effected by b urrowing through the snow
to another tunnel about 150 feet to t he right of the grand
entrance which WaS known to Mehr, the elevato r operator.
It Was through this unp retentio us passageway that the
heavy machinery for the operation of the lift Was brought
and set up in large rooms hollowed out of the stone.
To reac h the e levato r it s el f f rom the engine
room it WaS nec es sary to crawl through a low pipe and wire
conduit. The lift WaS within easy climbing distance and
Was reached t h rou gh a trap doo r in the lower compartment.
The formal show section of the lift whi ch accom­
modated 15 persons Was finished in bronze panels. It Was
not elaborate or luxurious - rather its lines Were severe
and rich. In the center of the nine-foot hi gh ceiling were
eight plain unshaded frosted electric light bulbs in a
circular pattern. On the side opposite the only door Was a
mirror two feet in diameter.
The door which opene d from the middle, each half
sliding into the sides, Was al s o of heavy bronze with small
plate g lass panels, about 3 x 4 i nches, in the upper two-t hirds
portion. Around three sides of the cab, except for the oper­
ating panel on the ri ght where Mehr stood, were plain leather
benches. In the dull emergency li ghting which still worked it
Was difficult to determine whether their color Was olive drab
or g reen.

TEA HOUSE DINING ROOM ELEVATOR ENTRANCE BLOCKED WHAT HITLER SAW
BY SNOW.

CONFIDENTIAL
 CONFIDENTIAL
The. elevator operating panel contained the same
thirteen push button lights that gave . rise to considerable
speculation when they Were observed in the foyer of the
Eagle's Nest. It Was thought when the Kehlstein Was first
taken over that those lights might i .u dicate stops for con­
cealed landings where Nazi secrets had been hidden. The
fact that a spring returned them to position when pressure
Was relieved tended to excite suspicion.
Mehr explained that the springs behind the little
round pieces of glass Were there merely to proteot them by
absorbing the shock. The lights on the panel, he continued,
Were to indicate the lift's progress by lighting every 10
meters. This Was confirmed by an officer of the T Force
Who climbed down the steel ladder of the shaft .and back
again without seeing any breaks in the shaft wall.
THEY PLAY SO NICE
, '
One of the stories brought out WaS that of
Hermann Goering's last visit to his Ob e rsalzberg home.
His housekeeper, a Mrs. Zynchski, WaS found with her fam~
ily occupying the ser vants' quarters in Goering's house
just as though the capture of Obersalzberg meant merely
a change in bosses. She related the incidents to. the T
Force i nterpreter.
General Koller, head of the Luftwaffe, came to
s ee Go ering at. his Obersalzberg home on 23 April 1945.
And a short time later Dr. Lammers, Reichsminister and
head of the Ohancellory also arrived.
Subsequently a meeting Was held which Was
attended by Goering, Koller, Lammers, the head of the
Obersalzberg SS and Goering's adjutants. Mrs. Zynchski
reported that Dr. Lammers had brought word from Hitler
that Goering Was to take over the government of Germany
and rule from Obersalzberg.
CONFIDENTIAL
The base of the elevator opened ' out into a rotunda
22 feet in diameter constructed of unpolished .granite blocks.
Normally it Was lighted by four sets of electric candelabra
of three sticks each. Along the sides on the left and right
of the entrance to this rotunda were two semi-circular
benches. Even in the sepulchral light of candles and GI
flashlights the place Was truly impreSsive. From the ro­
tunda a spacious arched corridor led straight for 500 feet
to the bronze doore of the' entran~e and the built-up plaza
which had accommodations for automobiles of a large retinue.
I
The last will and testament of Adolph Hitler
Was supposed to have been read at this meeting.
Two hours after the meeting broke up, Goering,
his family, his servants and his adjutants were all placed
under house arrest by t he SS, Mrs. Zynchski declared. She
explained that they Were told this mea sure WaS taken be­
cause Goe-ring had proposed capitulating to the Western
Powers.
On 25 April t he Goering crew Was still under
arrest in the ho use When the first Wave of Allied planes
bombarded it.
The Qoering prisoners escaped the first Wave
and in the half hour interval before the second everyone took
shelter in the tunnel apartments. The House Was wrecked in
t he second and t hird Waves of t he hour-long raid, Mrs.
Zynchski said. Two days later t he SS took Goering and his
adjutants to Goering's estate in Mauterndorf, Austria.

 CONFIDENTIAL

BERGHOF HITLER'S RETREA,T

There Was some question, in Berchtesgaden at
least, of the secruty of the foundation on which the Nazis
had established the Eagle's Nest monument on their "Holy l'
mountain and thei.r Obersalzberg colony. At the foot of
the mountain there Was a salt mine and part of the moun­
tain settled as a result of that activity. A local engi­
neer in charge of many of the construction projects said
that fact Was pointed out to Hitler before he started
building. Nonetheless in the opinion of the engineer the
foundations of all the buildings on the Obersalzberg level
and particularly the Kehlstein Tea House were sunk so deep
that there Was little likelihood of their being affected.
He deni~d rumor that cracks had become evident in some of
ths Obersalzberg buildings before the bombing.
own part - to prevent records and other items of possible
interest f~lling into Allied hands.
The main room, approximately 45 x 70 feet, waS an
empty black shell. The 17 x 25-foot window in front of
which Hitler delighted in having himself photographed was
scattered in innumerable broken and melted pieceS of plate
glass. Lying here and there were the springs of upholstered
chairs. In another place were several of them all joined
together - probably a davenport. The remnants of several
radios were discovered inthe ashes. The places where two
chandeliers hung from the ceiling were still evident. All
that Was left of the red marble pedestals of statuary was
bleached and broken stone.

The Berghof, as Hi tler"s Oberealzberg house was The mantle of the 10-foot red marble fireplace waS
called, was all but completely destroyed. What little waS white and hanging together somehow despite numerous breaks.
left after the aerial bombardment WaS wrecked by the fire The fire had been so hot that it melt-ed and twisted the '
which was set by the SS - after careful looting on their grates in the fire-box. But the bas-relief figures on its

.CONFID,ENTIAL

 CONFIDENTIAL
wrought iron panels were still clear. The left panel,
dated 1928, represented a sower casting seed. Opposite
on the right WaS one dated 19)6 with a man with a scythe.
In the center panel Were three uniformed figures bearing
a standard.
The room on the second floor above this main
room Was probably Hitler's bedroom. It Was a shambles
with nothing to identify it as Hitler's except its size.
There Were a great number of smaller rooms in which noth­
ing remained but simple iron beds, twisted by the heat
into fantastic shapes.
The dining room on the right of the main room
Was in ruins but the principal part o f the equipment in
the kitchens Was recogni zab le. It was ev ident from the
facilities, all electric and modern, that Hitler's
chefs were not hurting for anything .
The left wing of the house suffered a direct
hit which left nothing but dust, brick and boards. In
that wing were the apartments of members of Hitler's en­
tourage, his adjutants and other flunkies. Their apa rt­
ments, as far as could be determined from those at the
west end which escaped the full force of the blast, were
simply but comfortably designed.
THE FAMOUS WINDOW IN THE BERGHOF
The basement consisted of supply and storage
rooms and the machinery re quired to run the establishment.
A passageway led down a long flight of stairs to Hitler's
shelter tunnel wh ich had another opening near the house.
The Berghof g rew by remo deling and additions
out of the Haus Wachenf ield, which Was one of the two
es t ates on the mountain when the Nazis moved in. The fact
that the terrain Was no t suitable for farming explained
why the mountain had been s o sparsely settled.
Both Goering's and Bormann's houses were also
demolished by the air attack . In contrast with Bormann's '
house, Goering 's, except fo r Frau Goering's room, Wa s
rathe r simple. The bric-a-brac in the house, however,
Was rare and valuable, hav i ng been collected f rom the ends
of Europe.
The SS Kaserne, or ba rracks, conta ine d only 100
men b efore the War but was later inc rease d t o 400 or 500 .
There Was also a
contingent of 50 ss women in the barrack s,
who, together with othe r women who worked there, provided
companionship at the orgies r epo r ted to ha ve gone on the re
by all workers on the mounta in. Foo d and drink f or the
elite SS was a pparent l y plentiful.
A German telephone techni c ian named Lo de r r e­
late d a sto ry that Hitle r wante d t he SS barracks to be
used as a rest and conva l escent cente r fo r wounded SS men
and had so in f ormed Bormann . Al though Bormann did nothing
a bout it, Lo de r said he arranged to have the SS chief send
a Wire t o Hitler in 1942 to the effect that his wi sh had
been carried out . And, Lode r a dded , Hitler n eve r checked .
On the evenin g o f 11 May whil e the T Force was
at Obe r salzbe rg the main wing o f t he SS Ka se rne caught fi re
f ro m an undetermined ori gin and bu rned out comp l etely, de­
st ro ying any pos s i bili ty o f r ecove ri ng any of i ts r eco r ds .
In addi t i on t o tte SS t r oope rs gua r ding the colony
t here was a g roup o f what is popu la rl y re f e rre d to as the RS D,
CONFIDENTIAL

 CONFIDENTIAL

. ,. or ReichBicherheitBdienBt . TheBe were Hitler'B Bpecia l

Sec r et Service men . ,. .;"'j •~ '~

f.!
.;I- -. '

, :', .~; i: ~ lj.:i \ ! ,

• I
Shortly before" the ' coBa'pBe o f the German annieB
a bo ut 200 women Were brough t to the mountain to operate
the Bmoke mac h ines that were Rlaced along the roadB, Bome
a B c lo se aB every 200 feet . The idea of protecting the
mount ain Banctuary by t h is device did not work out, how­
eve r, bec a use aerial destruction of Nazi tranBpo r t p r e ­
vented the con tin uouB supply of the n ecesB~~ c~emicals .

All o f this Obersa l zberg life WaB ' p~edicated on

an d ma de pOBs i b l e by ,t he sweat, .toi l and miBery of hundredB
of Pol es , OzechB , S'lovaks a n d RuBBian B he r ded at the en d
o f each da y ' B f orced l ab o r i ntp a camp o,£' wretched Bhanti eB . " i .

About t h e ohl y BpOt t i nged wi th, human k i ndneBB

WaB a hospit a l wh i c~ accomo dated 500 Bick' an d bombed o ut
ch il d ren. .It Wa B c'ompo Bed of 5 0 we ll-built b ri ck buildingB .
( .

UPPER RIGHT: THE RUINED BERGHOFWINDOW FROM

THE OUTSIDE.

LOWER RIGHT: A TUNNEL ENTRANCE WHICH BOUNCED

A BOMB. .

. BOTTOM: ANOTHER VIEW OF BERGHOF LIVING ROOM

AND WINDOW FROM BURNED OUT INTERIOR.

 CONFIDENTIAL

TYPICAL TUNNEL APARTMENT

•
All Lights in Vapor-Proof Bulbs
c

o
~
----6" Brick a Concrete Tunnel Wall

a..
Central
CD
Kitchen
C

o Dental
a..
Dispensary
"0
o Showers
o Bed Room Living Room
15'x 17' Storage
~ 15'x 17'
Oak Floor Oak Floor
a a
Pane led Sidewalls

Mirror Bui It- in Wa" Cabinets

.
Excellent a
Expensive
Furniture a
Rugs
Machine Gun N est at each
Turn of Corridor
2 Guns 8 Peep Holes

CONFIDENTIAL

 CONFIDENTIAL

There Wae a medical clinic fully equipped with

Each houee had a playroom, bedroom and bath.
In each WaS childrens' furniture. And everywhere there
were pictures of Hitler in various poses, so that no child
could pOseibly forget his benefactor.
•
an operating room adjoining.• Nearby ,WaS the dental clinic
with b rand neW equipmj3I1t. And under the SS Kaserne WaS a
complete barberehop~

Unfortunately the hospital Was struck in the
bombardment. Although none of the children Were killed,
nurses said that ~ome Were wounded before they could be
evacuat~d to the tunnels. They Were subsequently removed
elsewhere before Obersalzberg Was taken.
All of the Obersalzberg buildings had air raid
eheltera, to which there were entrances either in the base­
IIeIlt of the buildings or nearby. These consisted of a
" lI&ze of arched connecting tunnels going deep into the rock
heart of the mountain, serving as corridors to commodious
apartments.
In addition Hitler had a library of a large but
undetermined number of books. A.t the far end Were arranged
lounge chairs and reading lamps. Most of the books were
concerned with art, architecture, photography ,and histories
of campaigns and Ware. A hasty inspection of the scattered
books showed that it Was noticeably lacking in literature
and almost entirely devoid of drama and poetry.
There Were many books illustrating types of archi­
tecture throughout the world, one treating the early domestic
architecture of PennsylVania and another of American public
buildings.

These shelters were not mere emergency refuges

Emanual Kant's Oritiques were there ' as well as '
with the usual benches 0 r bunk£., ~he type that Was common
Machiavelli's "The Prince". One of the few American authors
in Germany and other parts of Europe where those seeking
represented WaS Harry Elmer Barne's "The Genesis of the World·
protection could reet while sweating out an air-raid.
War"' •
They were modem apartments provided with every conven­

ience for "normal" living.

A big folio size book printed in heavy Gothic
type outlined Hitler's geneology and a note penned on the
The tunnel from Hitler's house Was a case in fly-leaf showed that it Was worked out and presented by an
point. There Were apartments for the ,comfort of all of admirer.
his staff. These Were dry, electrically heated and lighted
and comfortably furniShed. Many of the books bore Hitler's bookplate, "Ex
Libris Adolph Hitler". This consisted of a black engraved
This tunnel system Was in itself a community
eagle with outstretched wings carrying the SWastika in his
underground. There Was a telephone room with a 6O-plug
claws.
local SWitchboard, another with a long distance panel and

a third, the exchange with intricate wiring and roW upon

None of the books examined gave the appearance
row of storage batteries.
of extensive use. They had no marginal notes or under­
lining.
There lIere storage chambers with stacks pf elec­
tric light bulbs, inhalators, hand-painted china, vacuum In the same room were filed close to 4,000
cleaners, extra furniture, Wines, and even Ohristmas tree phonograph records. Every record had a duplicate and
decorations. A 10-foot telescope lay in its opened shipping carried a iittle paper sticker showing that it WaS reserved
box in the corridor, the pedestal near by. for the Berghof.

CONFIDENTI~L

 CONFIDENTIAL
• Wagner and Beethoven . records far outnumbered
those of other composers. Of the Wagner selections
Tannhauser Was apparently Hitler's favorite. Five
pages of the index Were devoted to listing the orches­
tras in various parts of the world whose renditions of
the opera were carried in stock for Hitler's convenience.
Other composers, whose chief works the musical librart
carried almost complete, were· Mozart, Handel, and
Johann and R1.chard strauss.
The most pretentious apartment leading off
front the Hitler ttmnel was that of his friend, Eva
iralm. At least it Was assumed it WaS Eva Braun's be­
cause books indicating that they Were given to her as
presents Were found there and rugs on the floor bore
her name.
The living room had oak floors and polished
ou .o abinets built in the walls which contained books,
knitting woola,dishes and a large glass punch bowl
and ladle. The walls Were painted in light yellow
cream color. In the· center of the floor Was a hand­
Woven Ng.
The bedroom had a single bed whose frame WaS
covered with blue chintz. A reading lamp WaS fi~d to
the head of the bed. On the floor WaS an expensive
wall tapestry used as a Ng. The walls were paneled
half-way up with a. cream-blue enamelled wood. Built­
in closets lined the Sides. A d.ressing table With a
three-sided mirror Was a.c ross from the bed. On the
door leading to the bath was a full-length mirror.
~ few doors down the corridor from Eva
Braun's apartment Was a storage room for paintings
with racks for about thirty large canvases and about
one hundred small ones.
What apartment WaS Hitler's remained a ques­
tion inasmuch as EVa Bralm's Was the only one that WaS
dfstinguished from the others by any pretens8 of lux­
ury.
CONFIDENTIAL
Hitler's tunnel WaS connected with Goering's,
and the two Were in tum connected with the one under the
SS barracks. Bags of rice, wheat, dried peas, and com as
well as loose ammlmition, such as small anns cartridges
and potato mas~ers, Were stacked in the tlmnel corridor
under the SS barracks.
The living quarters of each tunnel Were pro­
tected by a series of concrete chambers, Imdergrolmd pill­
boxes, with poSitions for two and three machine guns.
These commanded the 50-foot or more stretch of corridor
leading into the tlmnel and each of the right angle tums
that the ttmnels made before reaohing the interior main
seotion.
Within a short distance of the apartment in Hit
ler's tlmnel further construction int"o the mOlmtain Was
being pushed.. Shafts Were being sunk to lower levels,
t .u nnels were being ·d riven and chambers carved out. At
these points it WaS possible to observe the construction
methods and materials used.
This involved the blasting of a hole roughly
17 x 20 feet. The jagged sides were then covered over
With an espeoially s.trong concrete.. Four inches of brick
Were laid inside this and a quarter inch mat of water­
proofing material Was cemented to it • . Another 12 inches
of brick Was added and finished over with a half inch of
.plaster cement and a thin coat of whitened oement. A
concrete floor, 16 x 18 inches thick Was laid separating
the main ttmnelfrom the lower section where pipes and
Wires were laid.
The main corridor of each tunnel When finished was
approxiJ!l8.tely 6 x 8 feet with vaporproof electric fixtures.
Beoause cif the nature -and number of ttmnels
the qUestion of what other ' sec r.e ts the BlOlmtain may hold
. is one that Dlustawait careful engineering studies and
painstaking inve.8t:\.gations ove1" a long period of tim~ ..

 CONFIDENTIAL

TYPICAL TUNNEL X-SECTION

~4' Rubber, Cemented Fill

to Bricks for
Waterproof i n 9 4" Brick

12" Brick I" Cement

1/4" Wh ite
C,ement

~ ' , ~ ' , ~ ,:" TUNNEL Numerous Small

16" Rein forced
, ~ ' ,, ~ ', '4 '
Concrete Floor Lad der Openings
6' With Concrete lids

12" to 16" Concrete

GONFIDENTIAL

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REPRODUCED BY 679 ENGR. TOPO. CO.. U. S. ARMY.