Spiegel TV - Exploring Hitlers Mountain (2006)

— Original title “Hitlers Berg Vom Privathaus zur Machtzentrale” —

Over 1000 days, almost a quarter of his rule over Germany, Adolf Hitler spent on Obersalzberg, his Alpine retreat near Berchtesgaden. In the restricted area not far from the border with Austria, which was sealed off by massive security forces, the Fuhrer did not stay alone to relax, it was here that he received those in power from the Third Reich and Europe. In the midst of the picturesque mountains, he decided on war and annihilation. At the end of April 1945, Royal Air Force bombers reduced the facility to rubble and ashes within a few minutes. Even if most of the ruins were blown up after the end of the war, not all relics of the dictatorship have disappeared. For fear of air raids by the Allies, underground bunkers were systematically built during the war, and the work on the complex was only stopped shortly before the end of the war. Today, a large part of the widely ramified tunnels is officially closed and not accessible to the public. Michael Kloft received special permission for this documentation to film in the underground facilities. In cooperation with the Munich Institute for Contemporary History, it was even possible to research areas that had not been entered for decades. Dr. Volker Dahm from the IfZ also looked after the documentation scientifically. Berchtesgaden-based Obersalzberg expert Florian Beierl helped in the search for traces of the history of Hitler's mountain. He provided many unpublished photos and documents that provide an unusual glimpse into the dictator's private world. Rare film material comes from archives around the world that spans the period from the 1920s to the present d

Written & Directed by Michael Kloft ; A Spiegel TV Co-Production with Bayerischen Rundfunk and ORF

Full Version Available Upon Request
Related Documentary