GERMANY: NEW LUXURY HOTEL OPENS IN AREA WHERE NAZI DICTATOR ADOLF HITLER'S ALPINE RETREAT USED TO BE

Record ID: 648800

  • Title: GERMANY: NEW LUXURY HOTEL OPENS IN AREA WHERE NAZI DICTATOR ADOLF HITLER'S ALPINE RETREAT USED TO BE
  • Date: 1st March 2005
  • Summary: (BN 12) OBERSALZBERG, BERCHTESGADEN, GERMANY (MARCH 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE SHOWING GERMAN ALPS 0.10 2. WIDE BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL AT OBERSALZBERG 0.15 3. CLOSE UP OF SIGN FOR INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL 0.20 4. FLAGS FLYING OUTSIDE HOTEL WITH PAN ONTO HOTEL ENTRANCE 0.32 5. WIDE OF MOUNTAIN SHOWING THE MOUNTAIN TOP SUMMER RESTAURANT "EAGLE'S NEST", A BUILDING ALSO USED BY THE NAZIS 0.37 6. CLOSE UP OF BUTLER WAITING IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL 0.44 7. GUESTS ARRIVING AT HOTEL 0.56 8. WOMAN MAKING FLOWER ARRANGEMENT IN THE FOYER 1.03 9. PAN FROM SIGN FOR RECEPTION ONTO RECEPTION GIRLS 1.14 10. WIDE OF JOERG BOECKELER, GENERAL MANAGER OF HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL RESORT, BERCHTESGADEN IN INTERVIEW 1.19 11. CLOSE UP OF CAMERA 1.23 12. SOUNDBITE (English) JOERG BOECKELER, GENERAL MANAGER OF HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL RESORT, BERCHTESGADEN SAYING: "Well, the Intercontinental resort Berchtesgaden is a resort hotel, of course there is a business component, however we will focus mainly on individual travellers who seek this wonderful natural area of Berchtesgaden, one of the most the traditional tourist destinations in Germany as a matter of fact." 1.45 13. WIDE OF BOECKLER IN INTERVIEW 1.52 14. SOUNDBITE (English) JOERG BOECKELER, GENERAL MANAGER OF HOTEL INTERCONTINENTAL RESORT, BERCHTESGADEN SAYING: "Well we are aware that we have our hotel on sensitive ground, and consequently we have to deal with it in a most transparent and sensitive way. We have a very strong working relationship with the documentation centre Obersalzberg which is the historical element, and looks at history, especially the history between 1933 until 1945. Our employees have been educated by the documentation centre so they can answer guest questions in a most competent manner." 2.29 15. CLOSE UP OF LOG FIRE IN HOTEL LOBBY 2.35 16. CLOSE UP OF GUESTS LOOKING AT BROCHURE IN HOTEL LOBBY 2.40 17. WIDE OF GUESTS LOOKING AT BROCHURE IN HOTEL LOBBY 2.47 18. WIDE OF LOBBY WITH PAN ONTO GUESTS 2.57 19. WIDE OF GUESTS 3.05 (EU)OBERSALZBERG, BERCHTESGADEN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 24, 2005)(REUTERS) 20. VIEW OF BATH IN HOTEL ROOM WITH PAN ONTO BATHROOM 3.12 21. CLOSE UP OF BOTTLES IN BATHROOM 3.16 22. PAN FROM HOTEL BED ONTO WINDOWS SHOWING MOUNTAINS OUTSIDE 3.22 (EU)OBERSALZBERG, BERCHTESGADEN, GERMANY (ARCHIVE, DATE UNKNOWN) (REUTERS) (MONOCHROME) 23. BLACK AND WHITE FOOTAGE SHOWING ADOLF HITLER AND EVA BRAUN (2 SHOTS) 3.26 24. ADOLF HITLER AT HIS ALPINE RETREAT LOOKING AT THE VIEW (4 SHOTS) 3.32 25. VARIOUS: ADOLF HITLER AND EVA BRAUN OUTSIDE THEIR ALPINE RETREAT ON THE OBERSALZBURG (6 SHOTS) 3.49 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: OBERSALZBERG, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA3E1V0SK1KONI2ME48NL8FFPU
  • Story Text: A luxury hotel has opened where Hitler's Alpine
    retreat used to be.


    A new hotel threw open its doors to the public on
    Tuesday (March 1) at Obersalzberg in the Bavarian Alps in
    southern Germany, a spot favoured by Hitler as a place to
    get away from the stresses of life in Berlin during his
    time as German leader.

    While Fuehrer, Hitler sealed off the hamlet of
    Obersalzberg, creating an exclusive retreat where he and
    other top Nazis could wine and dine, savour the crisp
    Alpine air, and plan the most barbarous acts of the Third
    Reich. It was also here that he penned the second part of
    "Mein Kampf", received leaders such as Benito Mussolini and
    Neville Chamberlain, relaxed with his lover Eva Braun and
    greeted children in lederhosen and dirndl dresses with his
    dog Blondie at his heels.

    Sixty years on, the hotel chain Intercontinental are
    hoping that the area's serene natural charm can attract a
    different kind of visitor and open a new chapter in the
    area's blighted history. In 1952 the American military
    cleared what remained of Hitler's Berghof. The hotel is a
    new construction, the nearby documentation centre on the
    Nazi period in Obersalzberg was opened in 1999.

    General Manager of the Intercontinental Hotel Resort
    Berchtesgaden, Joerg Boeckeler, says they work closely with
    the centre on the Obersalzberg's history. "We are aware
    that we have our hotel on sensitive ground, and
    consequently we have to deal with it in a most transparent
    and sensitive way," he told Reuters TV. "We have a very
    strong working relationship with the documentation centre
    Obersalzberg, our employees have been educated by the
    documentation centre so they can answer guest questions in
    a most competent manner."
    The hotel's glossy brochure presents an "oasis of
    well-being" where guests can indulge in spa treatments,
    have their ski boots warmed before use and play a round of
    golf. The Intercontinental hotel owners want to avoid
    advertising the fact that it is just a stone's throw from
    where Hitler's villa once stood, for fear of attracting the
    wrong sort of visitors.

    "We will focus mainly on individual travellers who seek
    this wonderful natural area of Berchtesgaden," Boeckeler
    said, "it is one of the most the traditional tourist
    destinations in Germany as a matter of fact."
    But then nor does the hotel, which is part of the
    Intercontinental wish to evade Obersalzberg's infamy
    altogether. Staff have been specially trained to answer
    questions on the area's history, and guests will find
    "Deadly Utopia" in their rooms, a disturbing account of how
    the seductive Obersalzberg landscape was woven into Nazi
    myths of German blood and soil and presented as a
    pilgrimage site to the Fuehrer. The archive footage is
    familiar the world over, and up to 100,000 tourists flock
    to the site every year.

    But there is also some sense in Berchtesgaden that the
    new Hotel and its guests will be as remote from the town as
    the Nazi elite. The sleek building with stone floors and
    enormous panoramic windows eschews Alpine dcor in favour
    of feng shui and offers rooms from 189 euros per night.
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