Telephone: +49 (0)8652-2969
Website: http://www.kehlsteinhaus.de
Shop: shop present
Restaurant/refreshments: restaurant
Size of the museum/site: small
Year of visit: 2008
Overall rating:
Description: The Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest) was designed as a birthday present for Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday by Martin Bormann on behalf of the NSDAP. Hitler in fact seldom visited the Eagle’s Nest. Not surprising, considering he had a fear of heights! Today the Eagle’s Nest remains in its original state and is open to visitors.
It’s not possible to reach the Eagle’s Nest by car. You have to park your car near the bus station on the mountain. Here you can buy tickets and of course the bus will depart from here. It is possible to walk to the Eagle’s Nest but that seems a hell of a climb to us. But a lot of people did it, so it’s not impossible. We choose to go by bus. It is a breathtaking ride of 6.5 kilometres up the mountain, with an elevation of 700 metres. When you depart the bus you have to choose a timeslot to go back down. 2 hours will do the trick. The last part goes by elevator. In only 41 seconds, the lift travels another 124 meters into the Eagle’s Nest building itself.
Now you are 1834 metres above sea level and on a clear day you will have a splendid view of the mountains surrounding the Kehlstein Mountain, a lot of villages in the Berchtesgadener Land and even Salzburg in Austria. You can stroll around the mountaintop: it is possible to do a walk of 45 minutes. Or you can enjoy the magnificent view while drinking a nice cold Bavarian pint of beer, like we did! Apart from that there is a small photo gallery accompanied by background information in German and you can have lunch/dinner in the restaurant inside the Eagle’s Nest. Typical German food, lot’s of meat, so we hope that you're not a vegetarian.
Depending on weather conditions the Kehlstein Haus is opened from May until the end of October. Check the official website or call the Tourist Office to make sure it is opened.
