In the mid 1930’s the bucolic area around Berchtesgaden lost its innocence when Hitler (who had bought a house in the area) and many of his top lieutenants built their Alpine retreats in the hills above Berchtesgaden turning picturesque Obersalzberg into the most important Nazi command center outside Berlin. While propaganda makers crafted images of Hitler sporting Lederhosen and receiving flowers from adoring little children, in truth many of the decisions leading to WWII were hatched in Hitler’s Berghof residence.