Dokumentation Obersalzberg

Dokumentation Obersalzberg, near Berchtesgaden, is a center for learning and remembrance, designed by the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ). The historical location offers visitors the opportunity to study and reflect on the history of a place that was once a hub of Nazi power. The idea for the center was developed on behalf of the State of Bavaria. Dokumentation Obersalzberg was opened on October 20, 1999, and has been supervised by the IfZ ever since regarding research and museum matters.

The Dokumentation exhibition depicts the history of Obersalzberg as a place that was turned over time into Hitler’s second capital during the Nazi era, while also embedding this site, so central to perpetration of Nazi crimes, into the overall history of National Socialism, and providing background information on major aspects of the Nazi dictatorship. The center features a comprehensive educational program that is particularly well geared toward providing young people with the ability to engage critically with the notions of the radical right.

Even as Dokumentation Obersalzberg works to meet the highest academic criteria, its aim is to speak to the broader public. Its goal is to offer visitors academically sound but fully understandable information on the eventful and complex history along with input for further thought. The Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History provides for the direct transfer of its research activity into historical and political education.