9-Day History Rail tour: “Fascination and Terror” – rise and fall of the Third Reich (9R05)

Your tour starts right from Munich Int. Airport from where you will take a train taking you directly to Munich Central Station, where your hotel is located. In Munich the rise of the Nazi movement began and the “Braune Haus” (Brown Haus) was the national headquarters of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party). Your tour starts with a visit of the “NS Documentation Center” (admission not included) which has been built at the Brienner Strasse 34, where the “Braune Haus” was located.

Depending on your arrival time in Munich you may also have time for a visit of the City Museum. The permanent exhibition “National Socialism in Munich” shows the development of the NSDAP (German National Socialism German Workers Party) which was founded in Munich and always had its headquarters here.

The tour information sheets will list many places in Munich which can be visited by foot like the historic Hofbrauhaus beer hall where Adolf Hitler, who had joined the Nazi movement in 1919, gave one of his first speeches in front of large audiences. Or the “Koenigsplatz” (King´s square) which was re-designed by the Nazis and which included the “Ehrentempel” (temple of honor) of the fallen putschists. Also, buildings like the “Fuehrerbaus” (leaders building), “Haus der Deutschen Kunst” (House of German Art) and buildings where Hitler had lived when he moved to Munich.

In the morning you travel to Dachau to visit KZ Dachau which was the first Concentration Camp of Nazi Germany, soon erected after Hitler came into power in 1933. Rail to Dachau and the bus to the Memorial Site is included in the price of the tour, admission to the Memorial Site is free. At the site you may join an English-speaking tour organized by volunteers working for the memorial site or get an audio guide which is available in English. The 22-minute documentary “The Dachau Concentration Camp” is shown in English several times a day (free of charge). Including the travel time from/to Munich Central Station, you need about  4-5 hours for a visit. For more detailed information you may also want to look at our Blog “Dachau memorial site – day trip by rail from Munich”.

DAY 3

By speed rail, it only takes a little less than 90 minutes from Munich to Salzburg. Your hotel is located in walking distance from Salzburg Central Station. The city is known for Mozart, “The Sound of Music” and also for the “Mozartkugeln” (Mozart Ball), the delicious praline made out of pistachio, marzipan, nougat and dark chocolate.

In 1938, when Austria was annexed to Germany, Salzburg was the only city in Austria where a book burning took place (at the “Residenzplatz”) and Salzburg´s Synagogue was burned. Jewish inhabitants were forced to sell their homes and businesses and soon Salzburg was among the first cities in Austria declaring itself “Arianised” – “free of Jews”. Since Adolf Hitler spent much time at the “Berghof” on the Obersalzberg Mountain (Eagles Nest) located above Berchtesgaden, he used Klessheim Palace (which today is the seat of Salzburg casino) for hosting international guests.

Day 4 Eagles Nest Berchtesgaden/ Salzburg

In the morning you will take a modern bus from Salzburg for a half-day guided tour to the Kehlsteinhaus, located close to nearby Berchtesgaden/Germany, in English-speaking countries known as the “Eagles Nest”.

The Eagles Nest was built for Adolf Hitler for his 50th birthday as a present from his party. It is an architectural masterpiece: the building on a rock on top of the mountain, a road cut into the mountain ending in front of a tunnel leading to a golden brass elevator through which one can reach the summit. Truly impressive and this is what it was supposed to be: to impress and dazzle people. For information about what to expect at the Eagles Nest, you may want to look at our Blog “Eagles Nest – day trip from Salzburg” where you also find some impressions of this day trip.

You will be back in Salzburg around 1:30 pm. Enjoy your time in Salzburg for some additional sightseeing this afternoon!

By High-Speed Rail it takes about 3 hours from Salzburg to Nuremberg. Nuremberg is world-known for its Christkindlesmarkt, but it also has many sights which are worth visiting like the impressive Imperial Castle, medieval St. Lorenz Church or the Toy Museum for example. Included in the price of the tour is the Nuremberg Card which covers public transportation within the greater Nuremberg area (Zone A) and admission to nearly all museums and attractions in Nuremberg for two consecutive days.

Of course, a visit to Nuremberg’s famous landmark, the “Kaiserburg” (Imperial Castle), is a “must do”. The famous Castle towers above the Old town, which is protected by the five kilometers long city wall, many towers and gates can still be visited. The medieval Castle is one of the most important imperial palaces dating from the middle ages from the 11th century (admission covered by your Nuremberg Card). After your Castle visit, you may want to explore the beauty of Nuremberg’s medieval Old Town. One can start at the Koenigstor (“Kingsgate“), from where the timber-framed buildings, the Gothic Church of St.Lawrence and the Church of St.Sebaldus can be easily reached by foot.  Right next to the Koenigstor there is the Handwerkerhof (craft center), here you will feel like you are back in the medieval times, there are craft workshops like they used to have a long time ago as well as a gingerbread bakery. Make sure to enjoy a Nuremberg Bratwurst along with a beer or a glass of Frankenwein.

Nuremberg is world-known for its Christkindlesmarkt, but it also has many sights which are worth visiting like the impressive Imperial Castle, medieval St. Lorenz Church or the Toy Museum for example. But Nuremberg once was “Stadt der Reichsparteitage” (city of the party rallies) – a fact which was not easy for the town to deal with until they decided to use part of the monumental Congress Hall for the museum and documentation center which opened in 2001.

Its permanent exhibition “Faszination und Gewalt” (Fascination and Terror) is concerned with the causes, connections, and consequences of the Nazi movement in Germany. It is structured in a chronological order and first shows the fascination, extensively managed with means of modern marketing and media. After the visit of the Documentation Center, you may also consider the Rally Grounds with the “Great Road” (leading towards the Imperial Castle located in the Old Town) and the Zeppelinfield with the large Grandstand. For information about what to expect at the Nazi Rally Grounds you may also want to look at our Blog “Documentation Center Nazi Rally Grounds” where you also find some impressions of the museum and the Rally Grounds.

The price of your tour also includes admission to “The Memorium Nuremberg Trials” which you may want to visit in the afternoon. After the war Trials of leading representatives of the Nazi regime were held here in courtroom 600. Please note that the courtroom itself can also be visited but only if there is no trial going on – since it is in use nowadays.

After breakfast, you will take the direct High-speed “ICE” train from Nuremberg to Berlin which takes about 4.5 hours. When you have checked into your hotel you may want to start your tour by following our Berlin WWII walking tour suggestion. Those will take you from the Potsdamer Platz to the German Resistance Memorial Center, to the “Reichstag” (German Parliament), to the Brandenburg Gate, to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and to the Topography of Terror Documentation Center.

The Secret State Police Office with its own “house prison,” the leadership of the SS and the Reich Security Main Office were located on the site where the Topography of Terror Documentation Center is located today. Its permanent exhibition “Topography of Terror: Gestapo, SS, and Reich Security Main Office” focuses on the central institutions of the SS and police during the “Third Reich” and the crimes that they committed throughout Europe.

In the morning take the train from Berlin Central Station to Oranienburg Station (takes about 30 minutes). The Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen is about 15-20 walking minutes from the station. About 30,000 prisoners died in the concentration camp; even though KZ Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was originally not intended as an examination camp (those camps were built in the East). These dead’s were caused by exhaustion due to very hard labor, by diseases due to poor living conditions and diet, by abuse and medical experiments, etc.

The camp had an outstanding position because it was also the administrative center of all of the concentration camps. KZ Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was intended to set a standard for other concentration camps, in its design and also in the treatment of prisoners. For more detailed information you may also want to look at our Blog “Sachsenhausen memorial site – day trip by rail from Berlin”.

You should be back in Berlin in the early afternoon and you have time for some more sightseeing in Berlin with your “Berlin ABC” pass which allows unlimited use the public transportation system in Berlin. Especially the double decker busses “100” and “200” are great for sightseeing since they take you to a number of sights: Bus 100 takes you from “Alexanderplatz – TV Tower” via Museum Island, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Bellevue Palace (seat of the German President), Siegessaeule (Victory Column), to former West Berlin (“Ku-Damm”, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, “KaDeWe” – the largest department store in Continental Europe), Bus 200 takes you back south of “Tiergarten” via “Potsdamer Platz”.

On most days it is possible to arrange a tour of the Reichstag. This is free of charge but needs to be arranged way in advance. If you are interested please let us know as soon as you booked the tour so we can schedule a time.

After breakfast – depending on your flight schedule – you may use your “Berlin ABC” pass for some more sightseeing in Berlin. The pass also covers the fare for the public transportation to Berlin International Airport for your departure flight.