Dokumentation Center

Very close to the Berghof and where Goering and Borman and Goebels all had houses, is the Dokumentation Center, which painstakingly documents the rise of Hitler and his party, their 12 years of rule, and all its ghastly effects. It was packed, and, as one might expect, a very quiet and somber place. It is mostly photographs and documents--letters, orders, diary entries, newspaper coverage, etc.--but very effective, I thought, in telling the whole horrible story.

It is a grisly place, but something you have to see and spend some time reflecting on. The cult of personality is never very far away, even in democracies.

Dokumentation Center

A painting of the Berghof; the "romantic,"  nature-loving 
Hitler was part of the story sold to the public

Evidence of the Hitler craze

Large map showing all the known concentration camps,  "murder factories," 
and other such places

Below, the Dokumentation Center connects to the maze of concrete bunkers 
and tunnels in the Obersalzburg; fortunately, the Alpine Redoubt never took place

Map of the tunnels and fortifications

It is a grisly place, but something you have to see and spend some time reflecting on. The cult of personality is never very far away, even in democracies.