Amberg, Germany

We left Austria for Germany with Amberg as our destination.  Larry and Glenda Ray were there the week prior to our arrival and recommended it to us as a place we need to see.  So we went there.

Amberg is another German city that saw its origins with the Romans.  Amberg is ancient, beautiful, and one of Bavaria's hidden gems.  It is located in the Upper Palatinate, between Regensberg and Bayreuth. It was an important trading center in the middle ages.  After WWII it was the site of a U.S. Army post, Pond Barracks, until 1992 when it was turned back to the local government.

There are many buildings dating back to the 13th century.  The Stadtbrille, a bridge with 3 arches was constructed in the 1600's.  It replaced a 1400's structure.  It was also part of the wall that surrounded the city.  It was one of the best defended cities in Germany.  Certainly worth a day trip.

Linda, in front of Stadtbrille

Amberg

Main entrance gate

This stream runs through the town

Bridge over stream

City Hall

Portion of old wall

American tourist

History plaque of Stadtbrille

The photograph does not do justice to the leaf color

Stadtbrille

Berchtesgaden, Revisited

As I am writing this blog entry, we are listening to the Georgia - Missouri football game on the computer.  1st Quarter, Ga 6 - Mo 0.  Just waiting for Auburn to start.  It is 6:45 pm, Austrian time.

Today was another interesting day.  We drove back into Germany to Berchtesgaden and found out what we had missed on our first trip.  The first time we visited the Eagles Nest, we came away feeling like we missed something.  Today we found out what it was.  Berchtesgaden, the Eagles Nest, and Obersalzburg are 3 separate locations.  Berchtesgaden is a pretty little mountain village in the valley below Obersalzburg.  The Eagles Nest is a "tea room" set on the very top of the mountain above Obersalzburg and Berchtesgaden.

Unfortunately for the residents of Obersalzburg, Hitler chose to visit Obersalzberg while on vacation in the late 1920's.  Unfortunately for the residents, he loved it there.  As he grew in power and stature, his financial bottom line increased.  He then bought a home in Obersalzerburg.  As he rose to power in Germany, the Nazi party started buying up all the property in Obersalzburg.  Those who sold out early, fared well.  If you balked, then that made for a bad decision.  The Nazi's were getting your property, one way or another.  One of the last families to hold out were faced with an ultimatum...sell today or go to Dachau tomorrow.  They sold.

So, Obersalzburg went from being a sleepy mountain village to being a tremendous enclave for the Nazi party.  It was also the location for a secondary base of government of the Nazi government,

Plans for the invasion of Poland were made here.  There are miles and miles of bunkers underneath Salzburg.  We went down into some of the bunkers. We probably went down under the mountain 100 feet. It was like a city underground. Machine gun guard posts are located all through the tunnels.

If you visit the Eagles Nest, stop at the Documentation Center, and find out the history about Obersalzburg.  There are beautiful views at all levels.  After Linda and I finished our trip into history, we had a delicious lunch of sausage, sauerkraut, and roast potatoes.  We topped this lunch off with a traditional German dessert, Apple Strudel.  There is something about having Apple Strudel in the Alps.

Zum Turken was a hotel that was part of Hitler's compound. It housed the Hitler body guards.

Linda at Hotel Turken

The peoples car.  Has not changed that much.

Hitler Youth

View from Obersalzburg

Zum Turken, today

Zum Turken, after B17 visit

Zum Turken, Hitler's body guards, before B-17 visit

Bunker entrance just above Zum Turken



miles of bunkers

American visitor May 5, 1945








 

lunch break

lunch

dessert

Eagles Nest at the top

Do fish bite better when they are laying down or standing up?  Amanda will have to tell you what kind of cows these are.

The hills are alive with music....

Today was an education for me.  One of the highlights of this trip, so far, has been the "Sound of Music" tour.  I am sure I was not aware of the  following that exists with the fans of the movie.  I think that it was the biggest event in the modern history of Salzburg, Austria.  I believe, also, that I was the only person on the tour bus that did not have an intimate knowledge, not only of the actors, but also the songs and scene locations.  I felt like I was taking a test in school with a group of A students and I was struggling for a C.

Great tour.  Beautiful scenery and very interesting background information on the production of the film itself.  Like I said, big business in Salzburg.  The company we took the tour with has 2 tour busses twice a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, just on this tour.  Every bus is full.  This movie was filmed 50 years ago.  A tremendous amount of interest.

Julie Andrews, 50 years ago

Jerry & Linda, 2014

Old Town Salzburg

Official Sound of Music Cow (what kind is it, Amanda?)

Lake where Julie Andrews and kids fell in water

"I am 16...going on 17" actual gazebo

Von Trapp House

World headquarters of Red Bull

village from aerial shot in movie

actual church, wedding took place in

nothing to do with movie, just unusual floral arrangement on house

fountain where "doe, ri, me" song was sung

Salzburg, Austria

This morning we left our hotel for our final leg to Salzburg, Austria.  Our route took us through Stuttgart, Ausburg, and Munich.  We had a beautiful drive through Bavaria.  I know there are road building projects in the USA, but what we do can't hold a candle to the massive construction projects throughout Germany.  If it is 2 lane, they are making it 4 lanes, if it is 4 lanes, they are making it 8 lanes.  Goes on for miles and miles..

Back to the trip...when we left the hotel, we put our destination in both GPS's, the German GPS (that speaks English) in the car and the American GPS we brought with us.  When pulling out, both GPS's said go 3 miles then turn right.  A few minutes later, the German GPS said go straight ahead, there was a traffic problem, and I was being rerouted.  The American GPS said turn right.  I turned right.  The German GPS was correct.  I had the opportunity to reflect on my decision, while stuck in traffic.

Well, we worked through this dilemna and made it to Salzburg.  We have a neat studio apartment in a 600 year old building.  We are on the 3rd floor.  You can imagine my surprise when I found there was an elevator.  Does anyone know if Otis built elevators way back then?

Salzburg is a very interesting city.  It saw its origins back in the Roman era.  It was 45% destroyed in WWII by a an unknown number of bombing sorties by an unknown source using B-17's.

Had a great meal of roast pork belly and white lettuce salad.  Linda had a schnitzel and salad.  Both meals were delicious.  I am going to go now, big day tomorrow.

Amadeaus Mozart was born here.

Somewhere in Bavaria

Church somewhere in Bavaria

Our destination is near

Salzach River.  Once used to transport salt from the mines.

the Hohensalzburg Castle

Kirche at end of street

We had a great dinner here

Kollegienkirche (College Church)

Harry Kearley...I needed you today...

After a good nights rest in quarters at Spangdahlem, (I got up at midnight, played on the computer for a couple of hours), had a cup of coffee, and went back to bed.
A taxi picked us up at 10:00am and took us to Bitburg to pick up our rental car at Avis.  The car was not there.  It was in Trier, but someone else had it leased and had not turned it back in.  Mark, the Avis representative, found us another car in Prum, DE. 
Mark then drove us there on the autobahn.  Life is a series of experiences.  I have never had an experience like this one.  I know you have all heard about the German drivers on the autobahn.  I did not take any pictures, because I was holding on with both hands.  Ever how fast the VW would go, we went.  Over 220 km's ph.  Exciting, terrifying.  I did not even turn around to look at Linda.  We made a 30 minute trip in about 12 minutes.  Harry would have loved it.  Later, after we picked up our car and headed for Bavaria, I was on the autobahn, doing pretty well I thought...that is until I was passed by a Mini Cooper.  He passed us like we were sitting still.
We had a nice drive to Karlsruhe, Germany.  We skirted the French

Fine dining in Germany

view from our hotel room

street scene

great Italian pizza

Our room

Our hotel.  Our room is top floor center, with lights on.

 border, along the Alsace Mountains, and the Rhine River.  Harry and Amanda would also be interested in knowing that we discovered the German Wine Trail.
Tonight we are staying in a neat hotel, the Hotel Alfa, in olde town Karlsruhe.  We parked the car, toured the city, and called it a day.  Tomorrow we will continue the trip to Salzburg, Austria, where on Friday we will take a "Sound of Music" tour.