Kehlsteinhaus, or, the Eagles Nest in english, is a small building located on top of the rocky mountain Kelhstein. Built in  1939 for Adolf Hitler, the Eagles Nest was used as a summer house and venue for entertaining foreign dignitaries. 

Today, it is a cafe and restaurant,  with amazing panoramic views of the bavarian alps and Konigssee – the King’s Lake – a stunning emerald lake tucked in behind the sheer towering mountains of Berchesgaden National Park.

We took our kids with us on a trip to see this famous landmark in Southern Germany.

Where is the Eagles Nest?

The Eagle’s Nest, or Kehlsteinhaus, is a breathtaking mountaintop retreat in the Bavarian Alps near the town of Berchtesgaden, Germany. Built during World War II for Hitler, it’s now a peaceful spot for hiking and soaking in stunning alpine views. Accessible by a scenic bus ride and elevator, visitors can also enjoy a café with panoramic vistas. We also really enjoyed the small, but informative historical display boards.

The Berchesgaden National Park, within which the Eagles Nest is located, is in southern Germany and is the only German National park in the Alps. Close to the Austrian border, only 19 miles from Salzburg, this was the ideal place to stop on our family roadtrip back from Austria, through Germany to the UK.

What is the Eagles Nest?

The Eagle’s Nest was a summer house built for Hitler in 1939 (not as a gift  for his 50th birthday, as commonly believed, see picture below).

There are a few interesting, and informative displays boards about the Eagles Nest history, but in essence it is now a cafe and restaurant, rather than any type of museum, with amazing views and a few souvenir shops. There seems to be quite a few good hiking trails in the area, and you can hike up to the Eagles Nest, but we took the bus and elevator- we were hiked out for this trip!

We booked our tickets online, and we were glad we did. It meant we didn’t have to que (even though we were on the first bus of the day), and could jump straight on to our bus

Access for pedestrians (apart from hikers who must come from a completely different direction) is strictly on a tour bus. The road is cloaed to public traffic by car or foot. The bus picks you up from the ticket office car park, and takes you on a terrifying and stunningly steep 4 mile long road which climbs 700 metres in elevation.

We got there early and we avoided the worst of the crowds – it’s very popular. You have to book your return bus back to the car park and we chose the recommended time of 2 hours – we found this was more than enough, especially with the kids, to enjoy what the Eagles Nest had to offer.

Our day at the Eagles Nest

We began, as always, arriving first and being the only ones in the car park. We paid €5 to park and headed to the bus stop, which was very well signposted, and right outside the ticket office.

As we had got our tickets online, we hopped straight on our bus and waited for our departure time. The car park soon began to fill up, and as the other passengers joined our bus, we headed off up the steep private road.

The bus dropped us outside the entrance to a long, cool damp tunnel. We walked through the tunnel and entered a waiting room, where you que to get a old fashioned, brass lift up to the top.

At the top you are immediately greeted with amazing views that are 360 and open up right in front of you.

After a short stroll around admiring our surroundings, we decided to get a drink at the best table in the cafe before it started to fill up.

We were served our drinks and apple pie at the table ( it was good).

Just next to the restaurant is  what used to be the old sun terrace. Now they have a few displays with information and some historical photos which were fascinating.

The photo below we found d particularly eery, seeing a photo of Hitler in the exact location where we were now standing.

We then took a short uphill walk to a view point, which is marked by a cross, which I was told for all the mountaineers that have lost lives in the area

From here, you can see magnificent views of the alps all around.

After a while, we headed back down, to the lift, through the tunnel and back on the bus to the car. When we got back to the car park it was quiet hectic and the car park was full to the brim – once again we were thankful we dragged ourselves out of bed early for that first bus of the day.

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In Summary

This is the second time we have visited, the last time was 6 years ago and it hasn’t changed a bit.

There is little in the way of history here – it is essentially a privately run cafe and view point, and although the small display is interesting and informative if you are expecting anything more museum like you will not find it here.

I was more than happy to bring the kids up here – it is simply stunning. A hot chocolate from the cafe was the only bit they were interested in, but they did well and lasted the recommended 2 hours visit time really well. Funnily enough, since starting back at school my 7 year old brought back a book about WW2, and it sparked a conversation about this place.  There was an eery sense of the past when looking at Hitler in the very same corrodr as we were now drinking coffee and eating apple pie, and the poster there sums up the feeling well- the strangeness of the juxtaposition of the most breathtaking natural beauty and the evil schemes that were most probably thought up here.

No fighting or atrocities took place here, it was the summer house and shown off for private events, which I think is reflected in the lack of memorial or substantial historical information.

It is definitely worth the visit and was very manageable with children, being a morning thing rather than a whole day thing.

One day, I would definitely love to try some of the hiking trails in the area, as well as visit the Konigssee – it looks so beautiful, emerald green, and surrounded by mountains.

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