The highlight of the School trip to Bavaria for several rebellious Lancashire boys was an unscheduled and unsanctioned visit to Hitler's " Eagle's Nest " as it was known during World War 2.

Hitler's " Eagle's Nest ".

The Kehlsteinhaus had been built from Nazi Party funds as a surprise 50th birthday present for Adolf Hitler between 1937 /  38, and I had harboured a wish to visit this infamous mountain retreat where Hitler and his Nazi Party cronies partied and gazed out over the mountains of Upper Bavaria and Austria before plunging Europe and the wider world into a devastating conflict which lasted from 1939 until 1945.

At the end of the war the use of the Swastika and gestures of support for Adolf Hitler had been banned in Germany. However, even in the late 1950s there were still pockets of Nazi support in Bavaria, and Munich in particular, and one afternoon as I sauntered along the backstreets of Konigsee I spotted a picture of Adolph Hitler alongside a Swastika posted up in a small window.

Not once during our stay in Upper Bavaria, once a hotbed of support for the Nazi Party, did I experience any anti - British sentiment even though Anglo - German relations were slightly strained in a local restaurant. It indicated to me that there were still a few die-hard Nazis who were prepared to defy the banning of the use of the Swastika in public places.

The sight of this show of support in a backwater of Upper Bavaria reminded me that we were very close both to Hitler's home, " The Berghoff " and the mountain top retreat where the wartime leader of the German people entertained key Party leaders and foreign dignitaries whilst planning his assault on Europe, and I resolved to forge ahead with plans to walk in the footsteps of history, if need be, with or without permission from JF Tilley!!

Towards the end of our stay in the picturesque village of Konigsee my friend and classmate George Roberts - Jones approached me to say that word had reached his ear on the grapevine that a small group of Lancastrians, led by myself, were hatching a plot to defy JF Tilley and make a clandestine visit to the hilltop retreat of Adolph Hitler

John Tilley, the leader of our School Party had sulkily rejected our requests to travel the short distance to this popular tourist attraction, and George confided in me that the idea of paying a secret trip to Hitler's Eagle's Nest appealed to his sense of adventure and he requested to be included in the conspiracy.

The day before our party set off on this summer adventure, the mischievous George had popped into his local newsagent's shop and selected from the top shelf a copy of Health and Efficiency Magazine, a publication popular with naturists. 

In the photograph below George can be seen courting disaster with the naturist magazine brazenly tucked under his arm, in dangerously close proximity to JF Tilley, the leader of our School Party. If discovered he would have found himself in serious trouble, but for the time being lady luck was on his side.

 School Party

To improve his chances of persuading me to let him join our band of conspirators George promised to give me unfettered access to his H and E Magazine which he had hitherto kept hidden from sight.

I contend that few red - blooded teenage boys would have been unable to resist such an offer, and I immediately entered a pact with him, conferring on him honorary Lancastrian status and inclusion into our small band of renegade plotters.

Entering into this pact with George was a far cry from the " Pact of Steel " signed up to by Adolph Hitler and Italy 's Benito Mussolini as depicted in the wartime photograph below, but conspiracy against authority it certainly was, and we both believed that JF Tilley remained in blissful ignorance of it.

Signing of the " Pact of Steel "

Grinning like two Cheshire cats at the thought of pulling the wool over the eyes of an unsympathetic and intransigent team leader we sat debating over the various options available in implementing the planned covert mission like it was a wartime operation into enemy territory.

Later in the day when we met up with the other three members of the mission we decided that to minimize any probable repercussions resulting from the premature discovery of our plan, it would make sense to leave the mountain top adventure until as late as possible in the holiday.  

There were several more days left to enjoy and on one of them we walked the mile or so from Lake Konigsee to Lake Obersee and held a picnic on the boulder - strewn stretch of land that separated the two lakes.

Many centuries ago a massive landslip on one of the steep - sided mountains rising from the shores of Lake Konigsee effectively split the body of water into two separate lakes with Lake Obersee, meaning Upper lake, being so named because of its higher elevation relative to that of Konigsee. The recently newly formed boulder - strewn area of land between the two lakes was the ideal spot to enjoy a picnic whilst taking in the wonderful mountain scenery, and the keen photographers amongst us took full advantage of the spectacle.

The School Party arrives at our picnic area.

The landslip now separating Lakes Konigsee and Obersee.

On one day a full tour of Lake Konigsee was made in a small boat without mishaps although one of our party almost ended up in the water as we played a game of " walking the plank "

The walls on either side of the lake rose so steeply that a very fine echo was produced when a member of the crew played a trumpet upon reaching the base of the wall.

Stops were made at various places of interest as we moved around the lake, photographs of which I have included below.

St Bartholomae 

 Eiscapella  area.

Further excursions followed with an amusing visit to Salzburg and Castle Hellbrun, the former residence of the Archbishop of Salzburg.

Castle Hellbrunn, Salzburg

Dotted around the grounds of the castle were hidden fountains operated by natural springs which, at the touch of a button, would  suddenly bespatter everyone in close proximity .

We all emerged drenched but happy from this, and our clothes dried out in a remarkably short time.

After this our party visited the Berchtesgaden salt mines, and as we were making our way to the mines I spotted a tourist centre advertising trips to The Eagle's Nest, and I knew then that I would soon be back to fulfill my dream of walking in the footsteps of history!

A stock photo of the tourist train in the salt mines c.1951

Before starting our fascinating tour of the mines which included an underground train journey, careering full pelt down chutes, a boat trip across a salt lake, and lengthy walks through mountain passages, each member of the party was issued with special protective miner's clothing. When assembled together before embarking on a very interesting subterranean experience, the School party presented a curious spectacle, but despite being equipped with special protective gear at least one boy emerged from the mine complaining of scorch marks and burns to his undercarriage having parted company with his protective leather cushion during a particularly steep chute descent.

We were now nearing the end of our time in Konigsee, and with only one more day left I asked John Tilley if I could spend some time souvenir hunting in nearby Berchtesgaden. To my complete surprise he agreed and on Friday morning before the day of our departure our small group of conspirators found ourselves on a local bus which took us into Berchtesgaden.

Locating the Tourist centre we joined a queue of mainly Japanese and Americans waiting to go by coach to the hilltop location and I became engaged in conversation with a lady from the ticket office who wanted to hear more about our visit to that part of Bavaria.

Very shortly afterwards we boarded a shuttle bus service which took us along the short, but steep, road leading up to the Eagle's Nest. Private vehicles were not permitted to use this route, but we passed numerous hikers on the way to the mountain retreat. 

View from the terrace

The views from the hilltop terrace where Adolph Hitler and top Nazi Party leaders gathered to plan their assault on Europe were truly magnificent, but Hitler's fear of heights prevented him from paying too many visits to the property which was built out of Nazi Party funds in time for his 50th Birthday. In the rush to complete the project on time more than a dozen workmen lost their lives.

Dotted around the building were momentos and photographs of top Nazi leaders, and it felt truly strange to be standing on the terrace where barely 18 years earlier a group of men laid their plans to take over Europe and create the Third Reich that would last a thousand years. 

Returning to Berchtesgaden on the shuttle bus we thought it prudent as part of our deception plan to buy a couple of souvenirs to give credence to our request to visit Berchtesgaden, but unknown to us my loose talk to the ticket office lady had unwittingly blown our cover story.

For some reason she decided to call up the newly constructed waterside hotel in Konigsee and inform our School party leader that five unsupervised English teenagers had just bought tickets for a journey to the Kehlsteinhaus.

On arrival back at the hotel JF Tilley was waiting to confront us with incontrovertible evidence of our deliberate deception, and we were immediately confined to the building to await our fate. As we were left to ponder what kind of retribution would be inflicted upon us, to lighten the atmosphere we decided to play cards and suddenly, George, like a conjuror producing a rabbit from his hat, magically spirited his Health and Efficiency magazine out of nowhere.

However, the day was not destined to end well for the conspiracy, as to add to our woes John Tilley burst into our room to find us playing cards for money whilst giggling like naughty boys over a Naturist magazine. To his great credit George immediately exonerated the rest of us by confessing that the publication belonged to him, and it was immediately confiscated by an irate John Tilley. 

The flustered History Master informed George and the rest of us that the matter would be dealt with back in England, but George was never taken to task about it and the offending magazine disappeared without trace.

The following day the School Party left the sunny skies of Bavaria for the rainy lands of North - West Europe after ten days of brilliant sunshine.

Apart from the recrimination that took place on arrival back at School, this was the end of an unforgettable School Trip into Europe.

The END.