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The Third Reich in Bavaria

Hitler's Former Retreat, Eagle's Nest
Berchtesgaden, Germany

While our guests were here we visited a variety of former Nazi hangouts. Hitler was quite active in Bavaria and there are many things to see, even if they aren’t widely publicized. With Joe’s parents we toured Eagle’s Nest and Dachau, and with his brother and my parents we explored the Rally Grounds in Nuremburg. We also learned that both Mercedes in Stuttgart (not Bavaria, I know) and BMW in Munich used concentration camp inmate as forced laborers in their factories to keep up with demand from the Fuhrer.

Sun and snow
Berchtesgaden, Germany

Eagle’s Nest is an interesting place to visit, but it hardly retains any of the vestiges of Nazism. This house on top of a mountain was a 50th birthday present from the Nazi party to Hitler. Like the German cars of the time, the house was built by slave labor. When the war ended, there was talk of blowing it up, but the mayor of a nearby town convinced people it should be saved. The building was spared from total destruction, but it was ransacked and stripped of anything valuable. Joe’s dad visited it 20 years ago and said all the windows were gone and it was open to the elements—like a true eagle’s nest. Since that time a restaurant has bought and repaired the building; they’re open from mid-May to October, depending on the weather.

Eagle’s Nest is in the Alps and at the top of the mountain the weather is vastly different from the valley below. When we visited, the weather below was mid-70s, but there was still snow on top of the mountain! The views were stunning and we were in the cloud line; they were changing by the second, revealing and concealing panoramic vistas. I do think that the ticket was a little expensive; to reach the summit you could either walk/bike up, or you could ride the bus for a mere 17 euros per person. It was like 1 euro/minute!

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No man's land, Dachau Concentration Camp
Dachau, Germany

Dachau was an informative site, but I have mixed feelings about it; not surprising as it’s a former concentration camp. When the war ended, and the camp was liberated, almost everything at Dachau was leveled. The buildings on the site now are exact replicas, something I found a little odd. I was also annoyed with groups of noisy tourists not showing the place enough respect, and with the people snapping happy family portraits: inappropriate.

Some aspects of the camp remained as they were in the 40s: the ovens and the geography. Around the perimeter of the camp was a tall, electrified fence with barbed wire on top; it’s still there, but no longer electrified. Immediately inside the fence is a 4 foot wide strip of land called no-man’s-land. If a prisoner entered no man’s land, they were shot and killed. To even make it to no man’s land they would have to cross the deep ditch filled with the rushing water from the Amper River. Inside the ditch was finally the area of the camp where prisoners could walk. The camp seemed large until I realized how many people were crammed into the space. The beds were triple bunk beds and they put at least 3 people in each bunk. This sounds like an impossible feat until you remember the prisoners were emaciated to point of resembling skeletons.

Some of the ovens at Dachau Concentration Camp
Dachau, Germany

During the height of the 3rd Reich, Dachau was used as a model camp and all the other camps were based off its design. The first people imprisoned were political prisoners and the camp was periodically inspected for cleanliness and safety. At some point though, the line was crossed and the camp was used to house “undesirables”: Jews, Poles, Roma, and the mentally ill. When this occurred, systematic killings began, and they incorporated the gas chambers and the ovens. Anyone asked to run these machines could have no doubt about the moral implications. This is not something to turn a blind eye on, claiming ignorance of the operation. This was a carefully orchestrated way of methodically ending lives. So many bodies piled up waiting to be incinerated, and the original ovens were so overworked, the camp needed to purchase several new, larger ovens. The ashes were dumped in piles outside; to this day no one knows how many people were disposed of in this way. It’s been decades since the ovens were used and they appear ghost-like, bringing unbidden thoughts to my mind; is that residue ash; am I walking over thousands of remains; why did this happen? The camp was close enough to the town that there could be no mistaking what happened there, and with the ovens running almost non-stop, the smell would have been undeniable.

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Former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, now it's an occasional racetrack
Nuremberg, Germany

With Jason we visited Nuremberg and the Nazi Party Grounds. On the outskirts of the city, Hitler was building a massive complex of buildings and parks for use by the Nazi party. He finished the Rally Grounds, and for several years there were annual rallies held, drawing thousands of visitors for speeches, parades, and ceremonies. Hitler also began construction on a large building modeled after the Colosseum, but this was never finished. Today it houses the Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände; incidentally the largest German words we’ve seen to date.

Dachau and the Holocaust museum serve as memorials to the victims and details the horrors they experienced in the camps. The Docu-Center is about the Nazis themselves, providing a different view of the situation. In no way does it glorify the Nazis, but it does provide the history of the party and eventually the war. It provides historical information, but its focus is not the Holocaust. The museum has a 5 euro admission and comes with a free audio guide that translates all the signs from German. The exhibits are chronological and detail the party’s rise to power. They also provide background information on some of the support systems, such as the secret police and the propaganda team. There is a wealth of information here including pictures, videos, sound clips, and, as the name suggests, documents. When you find yourself at a Holocaust memorial, baffled by the number of victims, and you’re asking, “how could this happen”, the Docu-center is the place to go for some answers.

Useful Links!

Pictures from Eagle's Nest

Pictures from Dachau (Concentration Camp & Nearby Dachau Palace)

Pictures from Nuremberg 1

Pictures from Nuremberg 2

Eagle's Nest Visitor Information

Eagle's Nest at Wikipedia

Dachau Concentraion Camp Website

A History of Dachau

Information about Dachau from the Jewish Virtual Library

Nuremberg Document Center Visitor Information

Before and After Photos of Nazi Germany

Monuments Men: Recovering Looted Art in Post-War Germany

Road Trip Pt. 3: Venice, Italy!

Interior of St. Mark's Basilica
Venice, Italy

I love Italy with its mild temperatures and Mediterranean diet. When we visited Venice though, I learned there is a big difference between southern Italy and northern Italy. The biggest shock was the olive oil—there wasn’t much. The climate is not conducive to olive growing and there are only a few groves in the area around Lake Garda. Also much less surprising, being closer to the Alps, the weather is cooler and subject to greater fluctuations—hence no olive oil.

We spent two days in Venice and had 3 tours booked using Veneto Inside. Our first tour was behind the scenes at St. Mark’s Basilica, and it turned out that we were the only people on the tour. We were able to ask lots of questions and our guide escorted us to areas no longer open to the public, most notably the baptistery dedicated to St. John. St. Mark’s has vastly different architecture than what we’ve seen previously. Venice was a seafaring, merchant city and the basilica was obviously influenced by styles outside of Western Europe; it looks like a typical byzantine church found in Turkey. Much of the interior was gilded and the art within was more Middle Eastern than typical renaissance art found in other Italian churches.

Venice, Italy

That evening we had dinner on the Grand Canal. Venice has more tourists than locals and the restaurant didn’t have an authentic feel, but the ambience of sitting canal-side was nice. We sat right next to the edge of the canal and were able to watch the chaos that is water traffic from a safe distance. As we finished our dinner we encountered a downside to sitting so close to the canal: flooding. The water had risen during our meal and was now pooling around our feet. We paid and headed into the labyrinthine streets in search of our hotel. There are over 400 bridges in Venice, but lots of streets still dead end into the canals.

Minor Flooding
Venice, Italy

The next morning’s weather did not bode well for the already swollen canals; a storm was brewing. We decided to visit Murano Island in the morning and wander around more of Venice in the afternoon. Murano is another small series of islands similar to Venice and is located about 1½ miles northwest of the city.

We took a water bus, or vaporetto, to Murano. Our route took us out into the lagoon where the waters of the Adriatic were rougher due to the impending storm. Knowing what white caps mean from experience, I went below deck and had the pleasure of watching everyone above get soaked when we hit the first wake of another boat. I also delighted in standing the whole ride; it was like surfing. I could see the locals waiting for me to fall and I’m proud to report they were disappointed. I may be clumsy on land, but years of sailing with my Dad have given me pretty sturdy sea-legs.

Rough Seas
Murano, Italy

Murano Island has far fewer tourists and locals than Venice; people tend to visit for one reason. For centuries, Murano has been the location of master glass craftsmen. During the height of the glass monopoly, the masters were forbidden from leaving the island for fear of trade secrets getting out. There were rumors that dissenters would have their tongues cut out.

The secrets are still jealously guarded, though with less brutal punishments. Today the main fear is cheap, Chinese knockoffs, and photography isn’t allowed. Now with fewer craftsmen in the city, I’d rather support the masters so the craft doesn’t die out. The art is stunning; shapes and colors that shouldn’t be possible with glass as a medium. It takes at least 10 years of training to become a master; many craftsmen spend even longer developing their skills. The price of the art is proportional to the amount of work that each piece requires. At first blush the prices seem outrageous, but as soon as you see the process, you understand.

Our Lamp Shades from Murano

If cooled too quickly, hot glass breaks. During formation the glass is heated to ridiculously high temperatures so that it will be pliable. After the master shapes the pliable glass, the piece is placed into an oven to cool down. Letting the glass cool on its own to room temperature would cause it to break; instead it cools slowly in the oven over a few days.

Joe and I purchased a beautiful light fixture (previously I was saying chandelier but that’s not really an accurate description) from Franco Schiavon Gallery. It’s mostly metal, and it reminds me of a tropical plant; the glass shades are the flowers. There are 5 shades, each in a different color. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take any pictures before they wrapped it up, so it’ll be awhile before you can get the full experience.

After our purchase we were allowed to see the work shop and the specially commissioned pieces. We were also permitted to photograph as much as we wanted. I won’t be making these pictures publicly available to protect the privacy of the artists, but it’s nice to have them for my personal use.

The Grand Canal
Venice, Italy

All the lights and chandeliers are wired for European outlets and voltages when they’re made. Since we are taking ours back to the US the wiring needed to be changed before we could leave the shop. While they were changing our wires and boxing the light, we wandered around the show rooms. After, while we were waiting, the power went out! The store was 3 levels and each piece had display lighting. During our tour of the store, our guide would power up each room when we walked in, and flip all the fuses back off when we left. I think someone had too many lights on at once and overloaded the system. Once power was restored we got our packages and some cute glass candies as a parting gift. We didn’t have time to return to the hotel so we carried our bulky packages the rest of the night—through 2 tours.

Venice, Italy

The first tour was pretty interesting; it was called a taste of Venice, and by chance we were again alone with the guide. Basically we were bar hopping; eating a traditional small snack, or cicchetti, paired with wine, sort of like tapas. Unfortunately, something they ate didn’t agree with them, and Joe’s parents both got sick. Joe and I didn’t, and everything we ate tasted amazing.

The second tour was a large ghost tour and it was given about a half hour before dusk, so it wasn’t very dark. It was difficult to get in the mood when there were no shadows creeping around corners. We were able to see more Venice on this tour and to witness the city under siege from high water. All the rain during the day had significantly increased the high tide depths. The high water warning siren rang, and the flood gates went up in front of home and businesses. We had to splash our way through a few puddles to get home that night.

Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
Franco Schiavon Gallery-Murano
National Geographic Guide to Venice
About Authentic Murano Glass
Byzantine Architecture - Be sure to scroll left and right
St. Mark’s Basilica Website
Veneto Inside Venice Tours
History of St. Mark's from Sacred Destinations (I love this site!)
Article about the Negative Effects of Cruise Ships Visiting Venice
Riding the Vaporetti (from Smithsonian Magazine)
Venetian Pub Crawl through Cicchetti Bars (from Smithsonian Magazine)
Climate Change: Rising Sea Levels and Venice (from Smithsonian Magazine)

Road Trip pt. 2: Croatia

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

I almost don’t want to write about this part of the trip, because if I write about it, I’ll be encouraging you to visit a pristine place, and I like that it’s relatively unknown. Plitvice Lakes is a national park in Croatia and has been in existence since 1949, but they haven’t even had 2 million visitors yet; their 1 millionth visitor arrived in 2011. In 2011 alone, Yellowstone had over 3 million visitors and the Grand Canyon had over 4 million visitors. Plitvice Lakes is stunningly beautiful, and it still looks like the pictures on its website, unlike other destinations where fellow tourists are thick as ants on a cookie crumb. We were able to walk for an hour at a time without encountering more than 10 people, or thankfully, any bears. There is a population of endangered brown bears that lives in the park, but I think they keep to the more densely forested areas away from people.

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

In the 90s, Croatia was part of Yugoslavia and embroiled in a bitter civil war. When the war ended, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia, The Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo emerged. There are actually still unmarked landmines throughout the country; to avoid catastrophe stick to well-marked areas that have already been cleared. War tends to deter tourists, and they’re just beginning to come back, even amid the warnings to watch out for land mines. Many visitors, especially those from cruise ships, tend to stick to the Adriatic coast and avoid the interior of the country. Plitvice Lakes is not only located in the middle of the country, but also the middle nowhere.

The wooden paths went right over the water; visible beneath my feet.
Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Getting to Croatia seemed easy enough, but we got hung up at the border crossings. Our route took us from Austria, through Slovenia, and finally into Croatia. To drive in Austria and Slovenia you need two separate vignettes; window stickers valid for a period of time that serve as road taxes. Even though we had vignettes though there were still hefty tolls on the roads; road tripping through Europe is not for the weak of mind, stomach, and wallet. At the Croatia border we had to go through customs, and we got our passports stamped—YES! Instead of an airplane, the stamp had a car on it since we drove to the country. We visited on the 21st of May, and at that time Croatia wasn’t a member of the EU, hence the official border crossing. They officially joined the EU on the 1st of July and now has fluid borders with other EU member states.

Crystal clear water at Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Croatian food is AMAZING!!! The region has been influenced by so many cultures throughout the ages, and the food reflects this. There were Greek and Turkish influences with a hint of Mediterranean on a base of more continental fare like pork and game meat. We had a baklava for dessert that was drenched with perfectly sweet honey, and it was to die for.

We spent the entire day (9 hours) in the Plitvice Lakes Park. The trail took us along the top of the river gorge and down to the water level. Sometimes the wooden-plank path would over a lake or waterfall and we could see the water rushing right below our feet. I could go on, but the pictures really speak for themselves.

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

I would love to return to Croatia to explore more of the beautiful country and its delectable cuisine. Even though doing so will increase the touristy aspects of the country, I urge you to go to Croatia and spend more than the few hours allocated to a cruise ship shore excursion. It will be worth it. Just watch out for landmines and bears; stick to the well-marked path.

Useful Links!

Pictures from Our Trip!

Croatia Tourist Board

Croatia Joins the EU

US National Parks Visitors Statistics

Plitvice Lakes Tourist Board

About the Former Yugoslavia

Road Trip pt. 1: Austria

Our first border crossing of the day.

We kicked off our week long road trip with a short drive to Austria. On the way we visited Eagle’s Nest, but I will defer writing about that part of the trip for now; look for it later. I will tell you that to arrive at Eagle’s Nest we had to cross the Germany/Austria border a few times, and a few more times to leave. By the time we arrived at our definitive Austrian destination, the Hallein salt mines, we crossed the border 6 times.

Getting ready to be miners.
Hallein Salt Mines, Austria

Before the tour started we donned white, canvas, protective clothing. These were to keep our nice clothes clean; the salt mines are dirty. Our next thrill came from riding the train deep into the mine. While we were dressing, we had to watch a brief instructional video where a dim-witted, mulleted man demonstrated what not to do on the tour. Among the “do-not” list were riding the train drunk and standing up in the train tunnel; a stunt that would lead to a concussion.

Walking back to Germany!
Hallein Salt Mines, Austria/Germany

When the train ride ended we still had more to walk. In fact, we walked back to Germany! We were grateful for our canvas suits as it was very cold inside the mountain. Our clothes also came in handy when we rode the slides. The slides were comprised of two wooden rails running parallel to each other. I think they are well oiled or smoothed by years of butts. Either way, my own butt remained mercifully splinter free; I had been harboring fears about that since I’d seen the wooden slides. There were two slides in the mine and they were so much fun! When we reached the bottom I had to fight the urge to race back up the steps and slide down again; I felt like a kid again. The tour even came with a souvenir; on our way out of the mine we were each given a small shaker of Austrian salt.

The top of the slide!
Hallein Salt Mines, Austria/Germany

Pension St. Nikolaus
Golling, Austria

We spent the night in a small town called Golling. Our hotel was Pension St. Nikolaus and it was nestled in the meadows of an Alpine valley. The owner of the hotel lived on the 1st floor and she was gracious and helpful, directing us to a delicious restaurant and the town’s main attraction, a waterfall. We’d booked 1 room for 4 adults, but she said most of the rooms were empty so we could have two rooms. I loved the décor and the balcony with a view of the towering peaks.

Waterfall
Golling, Austria

We hiked to the waterfall before dinner and after breakfast, and both times we ended up damp. During our evening hike it was raining, and during our morning hike the waterfall kicked up enough spray to simulate rain. This was a fun little precursor to Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes.

Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
Hallein Salt Mines in Austria
Pension St. Nikolaus
Golling Austria Town Website

München, again

Weisses Brauhaus
Munich, Germany

We pass through Munich a lot, usually taking the train. Whenever we arrive in the Munich Hauptbahnhof or main train station, we like to take a brief pit stop at the Pizza Panini stand in the station. There is something amazing about eating a slice of delicious pizza on the move after being cooped up in the train. We tried to mix it up this trip, and after lunch at our favorite beer hall, Weissesbrauhaus, we succeeded in visiting new venues.

The first was the Bier und Oktoberfest Museum. Most of the exhibits were in German, but there was enough English around that we weren’t totally lost. The admission was surprising low; I think it was €2.50 a person.

I think he'd make a cute beer maid.
Joseph Satava at the Bier und Oktoberfest Muesum
Munich, Germany

At Oktoberfest, the beer maids have to be able to carry 7 litres of beer per hand. At the museum they have mock liter mugs so you could compare your strength to that of the trained beer maids. Those mugs were heavy; I don’t have what it takes. Joe and Steve on the other hand could, with a little training, try out to be beer maids next year.

Our next stop on the tour was the Munich Residenz. There are 3 portions of the palace you can visit, and we only managed to visit one. This is another palace used by the Bavarian Kings because honestly, who only has one palace?

Munich Residenz
Munich, Germany

The Residenz was heavily bombed during WWII so a lot of the interiors are reconstructions, but there were a few original pieces. Like most royal palaces, the Residenz was decorated in all manners of opulence; I half expected a miniature giraffe to gallop by. There were a few standout rooms that broke up the monotony of audience rooms and bed chambers, but this tour is exhausting. There are over 100 rooms to tour, and I can’t imagine living here. What if I left my book at the opposite end of the palace? It would take me an hour just to get the thing. However, it would be awesome remarkably easy to get some private time and it would make a fabulous setting for an epic game of hide and seek.

Munich Residenz
Munich, Germany

Useful Links!

Photos from Our Trip!

Munich Residenz Museum

Bavarian Castle Pass

Bier und Oktoberfest Museum

Regensburg Volksfest

Regensburg Volksfest
Dultplatz, Regensburg, Germany

While driving home recently, we noticed a new silhouette on the skyline. It was round and brightly colored; the carnival was in town!

Spring and summer apparently join together into a “fest” season for Germany. It seems there is a bier or wein or volks (people’s) fest every weekend, and now it was Regensburg’s turn. I think the Volksfest here is a summer kickoff party, and then they end the summer with another one in August. Unfortunately it’s been cold and persistently rainy here so it feels more like fall than late spring.

Regensburg Volksfest
Dultplatz, Regensburg, Germany

The day we went was overcast, but we were excited to check out the rides and food booths. Joe and I had walked through it on a nice day earlier in the week, and we had returned on Friday with his parents and one of his coworkers.

Roy said you couldn’t pay him to get on a German carnival ride, and after we witnessed a group get stuck on an upside-down, spinning ride, I almost agreed with him. However, there were several tame looking rides and I was pretty sure we could handle the (copyright violation) Mario-themed house of mirrors unscathed. Unfortunately, while we were in the tent, the skies opened up and it began to pour. The downpour put an end to our riding rides plan.

Regensburg Volksfest
Dultplatz, Regensburg, Germany

Did you catch that reference? In the tent? Volksfest was like a mini-Oktoberfest. There were girls in dirndls and guys in lederhosen, and several bier tents. We didn’t hear an oompah band though, just a German rapper. I’m hoping the weather is better in August and we’ll be able to fully appreciate the Regensburg Volksfest.


Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
August Regensburg Volksfest

6 Weeks

Since May 15th, we've had people visiting us, almost non-stop. There were 2 days off between May 15th and July 2nd. We've been very busy, and I just didn't have time to blog with so many guests. We've been doing lots of interesting stuff, and in the next few weeks I'll be posting about all our adventures. Keep an eye out for an overload!