July 16 - A Day in Germany

 July 16 – A Day in Germany

Today was our last day with the rental car. We planned our three days around the weather, and the weather threw us for a loop. Today was supposed to be the rainiest day of all—and we didn’t encounter any rain. Doesn’t matter—everything we planned was fun (or interesting), rain or not!

We started our morning driving into Germany, into the town of Berchtesgaden, to visit the salt mine there. Visiting a salt mine was one of my most distinct memories from my first trip to Europe, so I really wanted to take Grant and the kids. Fortunately, it did not disappoint!

We started off our tour donning coveralls to protect our clothes and took a mine car train deep into the mountain. That was an adventure in itself—you straddle the train bench kind of like the little train at Goat Hill Junction, but grown-up size. There’s a bar on one side to hold on to, and nothing on the other. The train went faster than you’d expect, and many of the tunnels had a clearance of less than a foot on each side and above your head!

Next, we took a wooden miner’s slide to get deeper into the mine. From there, we saw equipment and learned how salt was mined from this location and others throughout the region. The tour was really well done. It moved at a nice, quick pace, and at each stop we had translators who gave us the spiel in English while the guide spoke in German to everyone else.

We encountered a second slide, as well as a boat ride across a salt lake, before boarding the train and heading back out of the mine.

Next, we headed into town and had a delicious lunch at a German restaurant. The town, again, feels like you’re walking through a fairytale. It was busy but not crowded, and just beautiful to see.

After lunch, we headed to Mehlweg meadow. This is where the iconic opening shot of The Sound of Music was filmed. The meadow is on private property, so it’s not easy to find, not marked, and doesn’t have easy access. We parked in a turnout on the side of the road, and Grant and Katelyn hiked up to the meadow. They said the climb was very steep, and at times they had to make their own switchbacks because, as I mentioned, there’s no path. But they made it and got some photos!

Finally, we headed to the Eagle’s Nest. We didn’t go all the way up to the Eagle’s Nest itself, but we visited the Documentation Center, which is a Holocaust museum designed to educate visitors about Hitler’s rise to power and the atrocities committed during the war. It was very heavy and full of information. It was powerful to see how much Germany is doing to educate people about what happened—to be honest with their past and to help ensure it never happens again.

The museum is one large room filled with displays. These include photographs, documents, paraphernalia, and other materials that bring the facts of National Socialism to light. It covered propaganda, Hitler’s rise to power, and his vacation home here in Obersalzberg, which was portrayed to the world as evidence of him being a nature-loving Alpine hero—when in reality, some of the Nazi regime’s most horrific plans were devised here by Hitler and his top officials. The museum addressed the horrors of the concentration camps, the Jewish ghettos, and the “Final Solution.” It also included documents about the so-called “mercy killings”—the Nazi euthanasia program targeting Germans with physical and mental disabilities—as well as the persecution and murder of Roma people and others. The museum was eerily silent because everyone was wearing headsets to listen to the audio guides.

One fascinating part of the museum is that it connects directly to the bunker system Hitler had built beneath the Obersalzberg complex. We were able to walk through a portion of it. The bunker was never fully completed, and Hitler only began seriously investing in it once it became clear the Allies were advancing. It was striking to see the quality of the materials used—solid construction, smooth walls—especially compared to the simple and poorly protected air raid shelters ordinary German citizens had to rely on. The bunker system was meant to connect Hitler’s Berghof and other Nazi officials’ homes. It was over 6,000 square meters in planned size.

The site had been managed by the U.S. military until around 1995, when it was handed back to the state of Bavaria. The Bavarian government then developed the museum and reopened the bunker to the public as part of a combined effort at tourism and education in 1999.

We headed back to Salzburg with a quick stop at the grocery store to grab snacks for dinner. Now Grant and I are sitting in the laundromat, getting our clothes clean for the next part of our trip.

And, of course, right as our clothes finished drying the skies opened up and it is pouring rain outside! Along with frequent flashes of lightning!

Just wanna say that among the many myths in the sound of music movie, the fact that those kids are scared of thunderstorms in Salzburg has to be the biggest… Thunderstorms are too common here to be afraid of!