The Bavarian Government has reportedly announced that a mansion formerly used by Adolf Hitler as a mountain retreat is to be opened as a luxury hotel.
According to The Independent the hotel, which will be called the Intercontinental Resort Berchtesgaden, will have 138 rooms, swimming pools, a health spa and skiing areas nearby.
The building sits atop the Obersalzburg mountain. Authorities are reportedly hoping that the move will help to “reconnect” the area to the tourism tradition that prevailed in the 19th century, before Nazis used the building as a part-time government seat.
Unsurprisingly, the initiative has attracted a fair amount of controversy, with Jewish groups criticising the proposal.
But the state of Bavaria, which has maintained ownership of the land on which the hotel is built, has insisted that it is designed for more affluent guests – precautions which, The Independent reports, are meant to keep out neo-Nazis.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
