Abstract
In Mein Kampf, Hitler described
how his years in Vienna had opened his eyes to the darkest depths of
human existence. It was then that he began to see cities as centers of
the “Jewish-capitalist world conspiracy,” as places of moral decline and
suffering. Henceforth he idealized pre-industrial rural life and saw in
the peasant population the backbone of racial stability and national
strength. After becoming chancellor, Hitler chose the Obersalzberg near
Berchtesgaden (Bavaria) as his representative residence and the second
seat of his government. “The Führer’s Reserved Area” on the Obersalzberg
included Hitler’s own residence (the “Berghof”), houses for Nazi
bigwigs, the “small Reich chancellery,” various administrative
buildings, and a number of SS barracks and bunkers. Hitler often spent
several months a year on the Obersalzberg and handled much of his
governmental business from there. He also liked to pose for propaganda
photos in the idyllic Alpine landscape; these pictures were supposed to
illustrate his closeness to nature and the people. The photo shows the
so-called Adolf Hitler Heights on the Obersalzberg. The inscription on
the rock on the foreground reads: “When God loves someone, he lets him
live in Berchtesgaden.”