Inside Hitler's Eagle's Nest - Then & Now

In Episode 2, we examine the interior of Hitler's Kehlsteinhaus to discover how much of the original fittings and fixtures survive today.

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Credits: The National Archives; Library of Congress; Centurion Firearms & Wartime Memorabilia

[MartilloWorkshop]

Never thought I'd get to correct something in one of these videos.

As a blacksmith I can almost guarantee that the fireplace doors are not wrought iron, but cast iron.
Wrought iron being a type of iron that seized production around 1900. Before the 1700 all European iron produced was wrought iron, but when modern steel production methods were invented in the 1700 hundreds, it diminished in use gradually, and seized completely around 1900.

Today wrought iron is a a very sought after type of iron by blacksmiths for it's malleability and unique wood grain type structure, which can result in beautiful lines in the iron, of which pattern welded steel (called damascus by people who don't care about history) derives part of its popularity from (The other being Wootz steel, or "crucible steel" that was made in Pakistan/India and imported to Europe through Damascus through the middle ages (Thus the name of the modern imitation)) .

The wood grain structure of wrought iron comes from the way it was produced - also the reason for its name "wrought iron". Wrought iron was produced by compressing a bloom of semi molten iron at high heat (But never quite smelted, as furnaces couldn't reach high enough temperatures), cutting, folding, and forge welding it back together in order to push out slag and create a more homogeneous iron. It was very labour intensive and expensive to produce.

The invention of more powerful furnaces in the 1700, allowed for the iron to melt completely, simplifying the production process as slag separates easily from molten iron.

Japanese steel and wrought iron was layered many more times than European equivalents, not because it make it stronger than alternatives, but because Japanese ore was of such poor quality that it was the only way to make it functional - It needed much more work done to it to get it to a comparable standard. And thus comes the myth of legendary katana steel. It's simply because Japan has some of the worst ore in the world and a proud conservative historically (And some bad American made "documentaries").

Cast iron on the other hand came to popularity during the industrial revolution when casting steel and iron became widespread. Cast iron having a higher carbon content lowers it's melting point, making it cheaper to cast than regular steel. Cast iron having 2-3% carbon content and steels having between 0.4 and 1.2% carbon. Mild steel having less than 0.3% carbon content means it can not harden, yet it is still much harder to work than wrought iron, which contains almost no carbon at all (Also called "pure iron" for that reason, even though it's very impure)

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[curtgomes]

I had the pleasure of visiting the Kehlsteinhaus with some WWII veterans in 2004. It looks exactly the same. One interesting fact that we were told about was that the large ornate polished brass lift is powered by a WWII submarine engine adopted for use at this house. It was still in operation when we visited. This place is truly worth the visit. History abounds..

[Joseph-zsb]

It is never lost on me how "men of the common people" absolutely love and require luxury. Sidebar...a case of the lurgy? I hope that it's not similar to what my grandma called "the creeping no good". As always, great episode Dr. Felton, well done. Cheers from the States.

[ak]

Hope you feel better Mark. I went here in the 80s and again in the 90s while stationed in Germany. The scenery is amazingly beautiful. Perhaps that's why I choose Truckee in the Sierras😊

[vanroeling]

Thanks for a nice brief overview of the Eagles Nest! I just visited there October 16, 2023 and really enjoyed it!

[dougwright]

I found visiting the Eagle’s Nest really interesting. You can view the model farm location that they were going to deploy after the war from there. Also, I was told that the elevator was actually a double decker so that they could bring up supplies. A must visit if you are traveling in the area!!

[RobRoy]

Thank you for bringing back the memory of visiting the Eagle's Nest. It was a fascinating visit and not to be missed when in the area.

[alfredleadbeaterjr.]

I was up there one summer with my father, a WW2 vet who hadn't been back to Europe since the war. It's interesting to see and the area is beautiful. My mother was in the Red Cross and met my father in London during the Blitz. When the war ended they volunteered to stay and were based in Paris where my father was responsible for finding the bodies of the missing airmen shot down in Europe. He had the logs of the surviving flight crews to go by and he ran teams indigenous to each area. Amazingly, hey found almost all of them. They also found some death camps. He had shocking pictures.

[craigf.]

I will be returning to Kelsteinhaus in the fall of next year and quite look forward to hiking it from the base. Though it is eerie to visit from a historical standpoint, one cannot argue the absolute beauty and wonder of such building.

[johngraves]

Thank you. I was at Kehlstein in 2022, but your straight ahead elaboration on the details is most informative and welcomed.

[spycon]

Thank you for your excellent and well documented work once again. It is always difficult to stay objective and true when referring to historical events. Congrats

[dannagy]

This is a place im desperate to visit, as my great uncle, Richard Winters, was here at the end of the war

[jasper_saberwolf]

I always really enjoy these informative windows into bits of history I never really knew a lot about, always a relaxing and interesting experience. Thank you Mark for your consistently fascinating videos, hope you feel better soon!

[larryjohnson]

My European tour in 2011 was going to the Eagles nest, but it snowed the day before we were scheduled to go there, and they shut down the mountain and I was not able to see it. I can see that I really missed a great view. Thank You Mark for taking me there.

[USSResolute]

I was able to visit Kehlsteinhaus in 1999 while serving in Europe. I'm glad they tried to preserve history. It was nice to see it on a sunny day since it was neblig and eerie when I was there, although I remember being allowed in the kitchen area for some reason (probably accidental).

[TrueBrit]

I remember when I went to Paris a few (20) years ago, I worked out where Hilter stood in the famous picture of him with the Eiffel tower behind him. It was a really odd feeling - to think that one of history's most infamous people had stood there, 60 years or so before, was very strange. I can therefore imagine how strange it must have felt touring that house today.

[rockstarJDP]

I love the sarcastic humour in putting a beer hall on the place - contrary to stereotypes, Germans really do have a sense of humour 😂❤

[gmb]

My uncle was a U.S. Army Ranger Pathfinder with the 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment that parachuted into France
11 hours ahead of H-Hour on D-Day. They actually landed over seven miles off course at Ste Mere Eglise and just six miles inland from Utah Beach. In the dark, the scattered soldiers couldn't find their own company.

My uncle ran across a General, his adjutant, a sergeant and another GI private like himself. The General proclaimed, "well boys, the war starts right here for us." They met up with other troops that mounted the battle to take the critical town of Ste Mere Eglise.

Fighting their way across France, the 506th reassembled to jump during Operation Market-Garden in Holland to seize key bridges.

From there, they marched back towards Paris where they expected to be relieved for 2 weeks with R&R in London. They had no winter clothes, no ammunition supplies, and very little food or other supplies. They were diverted to Bastogne to cut off a vital road objective that the Germans wanted for their advance to Antwerp.

He remembered being trapped at Bastogne as being the “toughest, coldest, wettest, hungriest, and the meanest battle of them all”.

His unit crossed the Rhine River and eventually captured Hitler‛s “Eagle‛s Nest. He drank Hitler's liquor at the Eagle's nest on V-E Day. He was able to obtain some of Hitler‛s personal stationery and used it to write a letter back home to my grandparents. My cousin has the original letter framed and it sits on his office credenza at his home.

The 506th “liberated” Goering’s wine cellar as well as the stack of bottles from other Nazi notables. My uncle was in the area until about the end of July before being moved out. He mustered out of the Army in December 1945.

[pavelkolar]

I was there. Fascinating object and view of the mountains.

[TheTarrMan]

Sorry to hear about the lurgy. Hope you get better. Thank you for still making these. I appreciate your efforts.