Hitler's Third Reich and World War II in the News is a daily edited review of WWII news, providing thought-provoking collection of hand-picked WW2 information.

WW2 category: WW2 Tours - History and Battlefields  -- See latest WWII news here. See also 'Third Reich in Ruins', 'Nazi Memorabilia, Militaria'.

French D-Day beaches get GPS tour guide - 30 min videos and 500 pictures     gpsbusinessnews.com :: 2009-06-08
A group of local towns in the American sector of the D-Day invasion (Sainte Mere l'Eglise, Utah Beach) has innovated a GPS tour guide of the 1944 invasion beaches. Based on many unpublished visual documents from the U.S. Army and the Caen Memorial, the tour includes 30 minutes of videos and nearly 500 pics. GPS-triggered tour guide offers a first layer of information made of a 3 minutes presentation for each location; then visitors can explore more information, quizzes or a full encyclopedia of the 1944 Allied D-Day invasion. The GPS tour guide (8e) is available at the local tourism office in English and French.    

Travelling to D-Day beaches of Normandy possible on any budget     contracostatimes.com :: 2009-05-23
A silent moment on France's most evocative shore, a stroll over once-bloodied Normandy cliffs, a cider with a Frenchman who recalls hearing the D-Day combat as a child, hiding in cellar. Keeping the memory of the D-Day invasion alive doesn't have to be about costly history tours and high-priced museums with re-enacted exhibits. Just being there, on the Normandy beaches still filled with ruined pillboxes and among the gravestones, makes for a lasting memory. For ordinary visitors, straitened financial times don't mean Normandy is off-limits. Walking along the beaches can bring D-Day alive, and investing in one good tour or museum will fill in the details.    

Tours explore Hong Kong's World War II ruins and bunkers     vancouversun.com :: 2009-05-20
Hong Kong has never lacked historical attractions to maintain travellers' interest, but until recently it has stayed away from promoting its darker World War II events when Japanese forces seized the British colony. But this is changing as the remains of selected sites from the Battle of Hong Kong have been added to Hong Kong tourist routes. On walking tours in the hills visitors find the overgrown remains of battle such as underground bunkers, ammo magazines and pillboxes. The WWII tours also serve as reminders that most of the troops who fought the losing battle against Japanese forces were from the British Commonwealth.    

Travelling to Normandy: 2009 marks the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings     shropshirestar.com :: 2009-05-13
When the Allies invaded Normandy in 1944 the locals would have cheered military vehicles as they passed by. Today, one of those military vehicles is getting just looks of bemusement. In the aftermath of June 6, 1944 the allies didn't drove through Normandy blasting out patriotic songs - which is what we are doing. US GMC vehicle we're in is provided by the D-Day Academy, a group offering expert guided tours of the battlegrounds, including Pegasus Bridge, where a glider assault seized a vital crossing over the River Orne. The 65th anniversary of the June 6 invasion will probably be the last big chance to say thank you to the surviving veterans.    

Nazi walking tours in Munich: Travelling to Germany to explore ruins of the Third Reich     spiegel.de :: 2009-04-23
3 tour guides are standing next to each other in Munich, but only one of them is doing well: Jeff Cox, who is offering "Third Reich Tour. Munich Walk Tours in English." The Third Reich in Munich. That means Hitler, Göring, Gestapo, SS. Cox soon has 18 tourists: Nazis always sell. One of the tourists is Alan Stark, who has read 7 Adolf Hitler biographies, but he still listens closely Cox's stories. Stark travelled to Germany for 6 days, so he has to focus on what's essential. Day 1: Nuremberg, the site of the Nazi party rallies. Day 2: Berchtesgaden, Hitler's mountain retreat. Day 3: Munich, Third Reich tour. Day 4: Bayreuth. "Parsifal," 5 hours of Wagner.    

World War II History Trail in South Jersey     mcall.com :: 2009-04-12
WW2 buffs will be able to see the Jersey Shore and Cape May in a new light if they follow the new South Jersey World War II History Trail. In addition to the Cape May Second World War Lookout Tower (Fire Control Tower No. 23), the three other major historical attractions on the trail are the Battleship New Jersey in Camden, the Millville Army Air Field Museum and the Naval Air Station Wildwood's Hangar No. 1 Museum.    

Bomber Command tours take off in Lincolnshire, explore wartime aviation history     timesonline.co.uk :: 2009-03-25
A tour of 5 WWII airfields includes climbing aboard a Lancaster, Just Jane, and sitting in all the crew positions: from the scary perch of a Tail End Charlie to the hot seat of the pilot. The bomber is based at East Kirkby's Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. Clients also take a trip down a runway at Metheringham once used by Victoria Cross winner Norman Jackson, a flight engineer who climbed onto the wing of his Lancaster to put an engine fire out while being shot at by a night fighter. The tours are run by Lindum Heritage, whose manager Mick Purvis said: "The whole tour is all about rekindling the wartime atmosphere."    

Third Reich walking tour of Munich - Where Adolf Hitler met Eva Braun     news.com.au :: 2009-02-03
Imagine being sat in the dentist's chair, mouth wide open, and the dentist starts to make chit-chat about his clinic. "This used to be the Nazi party headquarters... Come to think of it, this was where Hitler met Eva Braun." It would be a little disturbing. But the surgery at 50 Schellingstrasse, Munich, was once the studio of Adolf Hitler's personal photographer Hans Hoffman, and here the cash-strapped party had meetings. Eva Braun was Hoffman's assistant, and she caught Hitler's eye while climbing a ladder. Details like this make the Third Reich walking tour of Munich fascinating. The historical tour continues up to Konigsplatz...    

History tour: Russia's World War II battlefields and war memorials     dailymail.co.uk :: 2009-01-27
The Russians do the biggest war memorials: and they are full of Nazi swastikas being trampled by the horses ridden by Soviet heroes. The 70th anniversary of the start of WW2 causes a huge increase in WWII touring: Normandy beaches, Pegasus bridge, V2 sites... all great tours but for the ultimate WWII tour is the Eastern Front, where 80% of the Germans killed in combat 1939-1945 died. The Soviet Armed Forces Museum has Stalin's coat, the red flag placed over the Reichstag, Hitler's personal standard, torpedoes, medals, swords. Next stop: Stalingrad, or the world's biggest tank museum at Kubinka (Tiger tanks, Porsche Ferdinands and every Russian tank model).    

Trip to Terezin - Wittman Tours employs Holocaust survivors as tour guides     statesman.com :: 2009-01-26
The man in the front seat turns to us solemnly and looks us each in the eye: "Hello, My name is Pavel Stransky, and I am a survivor." Nobody says a word. To answer seems somehow inadequate. For some trips Wittman Tours, a Prague-based company that offers tours of the city, hires Holocaust survivors as tour guides. Along the tour Stransky tells us stories: "There is where they shot Reinhard Heydrich." And he points to a bend in the road - All 8 of us turn as if we expect to see the former top Nazi and the Czech freedom fighter assassins. Stransky knows when to allow us to make our discoveries from memorabilia and when to share his facts and memories.    

D-Day tour on the beaches of Normandy     travelbite.co.uk :: 2009-01-14
For those with a passion for military history, not to mention war stories, a tour of Normandy's D-Day landing beaches offers a seaside break with a difference. Whether you're looking for a boys' own holiday adventure or would like to retrace the footsteps of your ancestors who fought in world war 2, a tour of the museums, memorials and military cemeteries along the northern French coast makes for a memorable experience. For an independent tour, hire a car and follow the coast road to Sword, Juno, Gold and Omaha beaches, Utah beach is just a little further afield. Off Gold beach you can see the remains of the floating Mulberry Harbour.    

10 Adolf Hitler related highlights in Linz - The next European City of Culture     telegraph.co.uk :: 2009-01-03
Adolf Hitler is one of the last names you would expect to see in a tourism marketing campaign. But the Fuehrer has been given key role by the Austrian city of Linz. The Nazi leader spent 9 years of his childhood in the city, which he loved so much he planned to build a 162-metre high bell tower in Linz to house the remains of his parents. --- The Hauptplatz, once known as Adolf-Hitler-Platz, its baroque facades are as the Fuehrer saw them when growing up. The nearby village of Leonding has the graves of Hitler's parents (still a shrine to fanatics who light candles on the tombstone on the anniversary of Hitler's birth and death).    

Hinterbrand Lodge, Hitler's hideaway in the German Alps, is now a popular retreat     stripes.com :: 2008-12-28
During World War II Adolf Hitler and the leading Nazis walked the mountain paths around the Hinterbrand Lodge plotting world domination. Now U.S. servicemen come here to relax and see Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Starting 2008 Hinterbrand has been run by U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwöhr. The lodge includes a kitchen, tv lounge and dining areas and bunk rooms. Accommodation is free, but guests bring own food and clean up before departing. Hinterbrand was built in 1903, and in the 1920s Dietrich Eckart, for whom Hitler dedicated the second part of "Mein Kampf," hid there. Up to 1945 the lodge was one of many buildings in Berchtesgaden used by the Nazi Party.    

Touring Singapore's historic World War II sites     nst.com.my :: 2008-09-02
It was Feb 15, 1942, the first day of the Chinese New Year but instead of the firecrackers, the only sounds in Singapore were the explosions of bombs of the advancing Japanese Imperial Army. That morning Lt General A.E. Percival organized an emergency war council in a room at the back of the command bunker on Fort Canning Hill, Singapore. The British later surrendered at the old Ford Motor Factory at Bukit Timah Road. Today, visitors to the underground bunker can live again that historic day as they explore the 22 rooms, recreated just as British officers had left them.    

Franco, Hitler and Mussolini: fascist-flavoured holidays - And pockets full of militaria     cafebabel.com :: 2008-08-22
Benito Mussolini's hometown of Predappio is now the main destination of fascist pilgrims. First stop: a visit to the tomb of Il Duce. After a browse in the souvenir shops - filled with busts of Il Duce, fascist calendars, flags with nazi symbols like SS and swastika - head back out towards the sea pockets full of memorabilia. Those who feel nostalgic about Generalissimo Francisco Franco visit The Valle de los Caídos - a large underground basilica with a 150 metre-tall stone cross. The famous Eagle's Nest, where Adolf Hitler retreated with Eva Braun and nazi leaders, is now a popular tourist attraction - not just because of the views.    

History buff Mark Patterson tours World War II battlefields     azcentral.com :: 2008-08-02
Mark Patterson, a World War II history buff, says his aim is to bring history to life. He leads tours to battlefields and gives presentations. "I try to teach these students that history is not boring and is very important to what's going on in today's world. You can go to a museum and look, but you don't get to touch, feel and smell." To fix that Patterson takes his collection of WWII militaria to the classrooms to let students try on the military uniforms, wear the helmets, handle a deactivated hand grenade and experience the weight of a submachine gun. His 2009 tour will spend 3 days in London and 5 days touring Normandy battlefields, including Omaha Beach.    

Visitors can't get enough of Adolf Hitler tours in Munich, birthplace of Nazi Party     haaretz.com :: 2008-06-20
Visiting tourists can't get enough of Adolf Hitler tours in Munich, where the dictator formed his Nazi Party and started the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. The guided walking tours take visitors to city sites linked to Hitler: like Hofbraeuhaus beer hall where Hitler gave his first public speech in 1918. Close by is pub Schellingsalon, where Hitler liked to drink - often skipping the bill. The trail follows him from his beginnings and his rise to Fuehrer of the Third Reich. Tour guide Eric Loerke starts the tour by showing photos of Hitler as a baby and as an average artist in 1913 drawing pictures for postcards.     [Munich & Hitler - Nazi Party Stronghold]

2009 history tour will focus on the resistance movement in the Philippines during WWII     battlingbastardsbataan :: 2008-06-10
7-day history tour about the heroic defenders and resistance movement in the Philippines is available. Edna Binkowski, author of the book: "Code Name High Pockets" (true story of Claire Phillips, an American Mata Hari and the resistance movements in the Philippines during WWII), will take you to the historical places in Manila-Corregidor-Bataan-Subic-Clark-Cabanatuan, as she recounts the important World War II events: the 20 year espionage by the Japanese in the Philippine islands prior to the war, the battle on Bataan, the POWs, the resistance movements, and the liberation.     [WW2 Tours - History and Battlefields]

The D-Day dead at an American cemetery - Locating WWII grave sites     seattletimes :: 2008-06-03
Omaha Beach was the landing beach where Allied forces suffered the biggest casualties on D-Day. And many soldiers laid to rest at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial died on that beach. Today, it's hard to imagine the chaos and heroism on June 6, 1944. A visit to the Normandy American Cemetery, however, brings into focus the magnitude of the D-Day invasion. Anyone planning to visit the grave of a relative should use the services of the American Battle Monuments Commission. Their online databases can be searched by name for an exact grave site, and staff can help with travel routes and accommodations.     [D-Day, Normandy & Operation Overlord]

Panther Soup: Travels Through Europe in War and Peace by John Gimlette     iht :: 2008-05-24
"Panther Soup" refers to the mud that a U.S. Army veteran Putnam Flint crawled through 1944-1945 with the 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Its members wore a panther patch on their uniforms as their towed antitank guns from Marseille up the Rhone Valley to fight Adolf Hitler's forces. John Gimlette makes books that are not so much travelogues as witty explorations of time, place and character. For "Panther Soup" he persuaded Flint to retrace his journey with his grandson and try to recall things that took place along the way - like one "Austrian fanatic" who nearly killed him with an unusual 3-barreled gun.     [WW2 Tours - History and Battlefields]

Kiwi to walk 800-km length of the Western Front battlefields     stuff :: 2008-03-14
David Guerin set off on a journey of a lifetime to walk the 800-km length of the Western Front. He has been hooked on the history of the two wars that flamed in Europe from 1914-18 and 1939-45. It is an interest he admits has turned into an obsession. "In New Zealand it's regarded as dusty history, but in Britain this is still live history. Hundreds of thousands still travel to the Somme to see where their grandfathers got the chop." His fascination with the wars covers alse the period between them. "Some people say WWI and WWII were really one war. They just took a breather to breed more cannon fodder."    

Siblings travel to dive to the wreckage of the naval cruiser U.S.S. Houston     srpressgazette.com :: 2008-02-21
Jerry Ranger and Jolene Ranger-Stewart will travel to the Indonesia to dive to the wreckage of the U.S.S. Houston, a WWII naval cruiser sunk during the Sundra Strait Battle on March 1, 1942. The ship battled against a major Imperial Japanese Navy unit that bombed Pearl Harbor. The trip will be bittersweet because their dad, John W. Ranger, was a survivor of the battle. "I've learned about what he would never talk about. He spent 3-and-a-half years in 13 different POW camps. He also received a silver star for his bravery." No divers are allowed in the ship, but Jerry has been given permission to send in a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to photograph the interior.    

Hunting Nazis in Munich by Joachim von Halasz - Nazi birthplace     chicagotribune :: 2007-11-26
Joachim von Halasz knows well the attractions of Munich, including its towered Gothic revival Neues Rathaus, which the U.S. 7th Army used as HQ near the end of World War II. But he is disturbed by an inscription that says, "To the soldiers who liberated Munich from the national socialist tyranny on April 30, 1945." It's fair to say that France and Belgium were liberated by the Allies. Armies liberate places that are being held captive, against their will. But that was not the case with Munich, the birthplace and stronghold of the Nazi party. The word choice seems misguiding, a whitewashing of the city's historic connection to Adolf Hitler.    

Taking a tour of World War II battlefields such as Omaha Beach     kansascity :: 2007-11-25
Article no longer available from the original source.
(Q) I am interested in taking a tour of WWII battlefields such as Omaha Beach, Point du Hoc. Where I might find more information? -- Here are a few tour companies that offer guided tours at Normandy and elsewhere: Historic Tours, "the only American tour guides living in Normandy." Valor Tours offers guided 1-4 -day packages, Pacific Theater also. Tours International offers "Normandy Landing" tours. The French Experience offers many tours, and 9 options for visiting French battle sites. The Caen Memorial commemorates the Normandy Invasion and has displays about WWII. A good planner for independent travelers is the Normandy Tourism site normandy-tourism.org.     [Omaha Beach]

Touring Ardennes battlefield - Foxholes of the 101st Airborne     zwire :: 2007-11-08
Having traveled to Pearl Harbor and Normandy, my wife and I were eager to visit Bastogne... After D-Day landing on June 6, 1944, Allied soldiers broke through the defenses and sped across France, and headed for the Rhine River in Nazi Germany. For the military, moving at such a rapid pace caused major problems, because supplies could not reach the men quickly enough. To relieve this problem Allied commanders set up 'The Red Ball Express', a truck transport system made up of black drivers. The Germans, realizing their situation, withdrew to West Wall, or Siegfried Line, a defense system with 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps built 1938-1940.     [WW2 Tours - History and Battlefields]

The 25 Essential World War II Sites - Traveler's Guide to Battlefields     newsday :: 2007-10-22
Article no longer available from the original source.
"The 25 Essential World War II Sites, European Theater: The Ultimate Traveler's Guide to Battlefields, Monuments and Museums," by Chuck Thompson. Now that the Cold War is over, he rightfully includes Russia, particularly Kursk, where "history's single biggest tank engagement" occurred. Among the maps and accommodations provided are locations immortalized in war films, such as "The Longest Day," "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan" and "A Bridge Too Far." Today in Arnhem a large gray stone marked "17 September 1944" marks the spot on the Rhine where Lt. Col. John Frost and his men valiantly fought the Germans. [Buy from Amazon: US, UK, CA, DE, FR]    

Drive tanks at Europe's only "Panzer School"     telegraph.co.uk :: 2007-08-27
The lanes around the tank school in the Brandenburg countryside bear huge track incisions. Eager tank crews slide through the narrow hatches of vehicles with armour plating. Surveying the scene co-owner Axel Heyse struck a military pose: "I was in the East German army 1978-1988, as a tank driver then an instructor. It is... fun to drive tanks, but it's not possible to do it anywhere in Europe outside the military, so we created this place." The Heyse brothers have amassed 7 T55 and 5 BMP armoured personnel carriers. And so close is the German frontier with Poland, that waving off her husband one woman joked: "Turn back before you cross the border."    

National park "Rosie the Riveter" - tours prove popular     rosietheriveter.org :: 2007-08-20
The popularity of Richmond's Rosie the Riveter national park was unknown until the first-ever summer tours booked up, and the waiting list grew to 300. Park employees were so overwhelmed with calls that they scrambled to add 2 additional tours, which also filled up immediately. Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park consists of numerous official locations and dozens of unofficial sites. Park tours offer rich insight into life in Richmond during the war through documents, artwork, welding artifacts and fashions of the day, like a near-mint condition wedding dress worn by a Rosie.    

WW2 prison camp Colditz castle - Wehrmacht guards recalls duty     bbc :: 2007-08-03
Alfred Heinrich, one of the few Colditz guards still alive, shows me his wartime snaps: old portraits of himself as an young soldier in the Wehrmacht. Serving in Eastern Front he was lucky to survive World War II. He lost an eye and received a serious leg wound on the Russian Front. His combat days over, in 1942 he began work as a guard at a prisoner-of-war camp for Allied officers. The camp was called 'Oflag 4C', better known as Colditz. During the Cold War, the castle's wartime past was papered over. Today though, Colditz Castle is trying to get itself noticed, by encouraging more Germans to escape to Colditz.    

Touring the Bastogne Region - Trail of Ardennes Offensive     philly :: 2007-06-04
Article no longer available from the original source.
I follow the signs - so did the tanks in December 1944 and January 1945. Near the Luxembourg village of Hamm is the American Cemetery. Most of the 5,076 U.S. soldiers here died during the Battle of the Bulge. One of the exceptions: General George S. Patton, who died in Dec 1945 in Germany and was buried here, with his Third Army troops. At Ettelbruck museum the signs and photo captions tell their own story of war. One photo is captioned: "Hitler Youth in front of Ettelbruck Primary School." Then there are the glass showcases full of helmets, weapons and gas masks. None cleaned and polished, but left crusted with the natural grime that come with burial.    

65 years after World War II fighting Midway is for the birds     paradisepost :: 2007-05-30
Iwo Jima, Omaha Beach, the Battle of the Bulge. These are some of the famous WWII battles. But some military historians say the most significant battle was fought over 4 days between American and Japanese airplanes flying off hundreds of carriers on a tiny Pacific atoll called Midway. The American victory enabled the U.S. to control the Pacific sea routes. Some historians say Midway was the most important battle, not only of World War II, but of the entire military history of America. I was privileged to be among 12 rarely permitted visitors who were allowed by the US Navy to pay a 2-day overnight visit to this remote island...    

Underground tours in Berlin Nazi-era bunkers, shelters and tunnels     monstersandcritics.com :: 2007-05-11
For decades after World War II, 300 nazi-era bunkers that had survived allied bombers and Soviet artillery fire lay ignored in Berlin. Citizens were kept in ignorance of the precise whereabouts of Adolf Hitler's fuehrerbunker - until the Berlin Underworlds Association break a taboo by erecting a shield pinpointing the bunker site. German authorities were nervous the Führerbunker, off the Wilhelmstrasse, might become a shrine for neo-Nazis. Similar thinking led to Spandau Prison being torn down after the suicide of Rudolf Hess in 1987. Nowadays, in addition to maintaining an underground history museum, the association arranges tours of WW2 bunkers.    

The sleepy, secret heart of Prussia - the German resistance to Hitler     telegraph :: 2007-04-21
I arrive at Trebbow, one of the Prussian estates near Schwerin. The house has been dedicated as a site commemorating the German resistance to Adolf Hitler. Here, in April 1944, Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg discussed the plans for the assassination of Hitler with Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg. Locals are hoping that many visitors will come to discover the Mecklenburg and its connection to the resistance. Large parts of Mecklenburg have been caught in a timewarp. This countryside has changed little since WWI. There is a somnolent air about the place, the result of the long years of Third Reich amnesia.    

Tours of Berlin's underground, including WWII bunkers, draw crowds     washingtonpost :: 2007-04-07
This year the Berlin Underworlds Association is expected to guide more than 100,000 visitors on special underground tours. More than 300 bunkers remain from World War 2, and while many are filled with debris or blocked, others are in pristine condition. Last June, the Berlin Underworlds Association broke a German taboo by erecting a marker in the city center that points out the location of the most notorious underground site: the Fuehrerbunker, the fortified shelter where Adolf Hitler sought refuge from Allied bombers and then killed himself. During WW2, Berlin had 1,000 underground bunkers.    

Pedaling Normandy's epic landscape - Historic D-Day area     boston :: 2007-02-18
In Dec 1944, as the Allies chased Adolf Hitler's troops out of France 7 months after the D-Day invasion, German Lieutenant Colonel Jochen Peiper, commander of the 1st SS Panzer Division Regiment, complained that the roads the fuhrer had assigned to him "were not for tanks, but for bicycles." Riding our bicycles through Normandy more than 60 years later, we were able to make better use of the little roads. We pedaled through this historic area, stopping to visit bunkers, cemeteries, and memorials to the soldiers who fought here to end Nazi tyranny. We had come to steep ourselves in World War II history while enjoying a biking holiday.    

Okinawa battle sites tours offer peeks into island's history     okinawa.usmc.mil :: 2007-02-09
Living on Okinawa provides a unique chance to gain more knowledge of the largest amphibious assault and bloodiest World War 2 battle in the Pacific. There are historic battle sites all over the island. An individual wanting to learn more about the Battle of Okinawa can travel to these sites easily. But for those looking to visit some of the islands more remote battle sites, it is best done with a guide, says Gunnery Sgt. Richard Deuto, who leads tours for Marines and units. Recently, Deuto, a history enthusiast with an in-depth knowledge of the Battle of Okinawa, led a tour for 20 Marines with the 3rd Marine Division staff as they toured 8 sites.    

4th Marines explore historic Philippine site: the Battle of Corregidor     leatherneck.com :: 2007-02-02
Over 20 Marine leaders with 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, visited a World War II battle site where one of the unit's most disappointing battles happened: The Battle of Corregidor. The Corregidor Island was essential to the Japanese forces, as it was the last remaining obstacle to Manila Bay. On May 5, Japanese soldiers landed and faced fierce resistance from American and Filipino artillery, but the Japanese forces etched their way deeper and overcame one of the artillery batteries. Early the next day, Japanese tanks made it to shore. Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright saw defeat was imminent. Just a day after the invasion, he surrendered.    

Signs of WWII battle - and gratitude - in the Bastogne, Ardennes     bradenton :: 2006-12-11
World War II foxholes remain in the forests of the Belgian Ardennes. For anyone with a sense of history and interest in WWII, this is a remarkable journey for anyone interested in the battles of WW2. The Battle of the Bulge was America's bloodiest battle ever. More than a million soldiers, Americans and Germans, clashed on Dec 1944. Signature battle of the Bulge: At Bastogne, a town of 5,000, where German Panzer units encircled the American 101st Airborne Division, which was under the command of Gen. Anthony McAuliffe. Four days later, the German siege was broken by a tank battalion from General George Patton's 3rd Army.     [Battle of Bulge: Ardennes offensive Bastogne]

Remote Pacific island that saw 1942 Battle of Midway to open     usatoday :: 2006-11-27
Isolated from most of the world, Midway Atoll could open to visitors on a limited basis. The tentative plan would accommodate fewer than 30 visitors at a time to the remote U.S. island, a historic World War II military site. Known for the crucial 1942 Battle of Midway that turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific, Midway is home to spinner dolphins, pristine beaches and hundreds of thousands of seabirds.     [WW2 Tours - History and Battlefields]

A visit to Adolf Hitler's mountain stronghold Eagle's Nest     seattletimes :: 2006-10-06
As I fingered the jagged green marble of a chipped-up fireplace mantle, my guide told me the story. This German lodge was a gift to Adolf Hitler for his 50th birthday in 1938. His inner circle all contributed. And the fireplace was a little extra gift from Mussolini. In 1945, Allied soldiers chipped off countless relics. While many people call the entire area "Hitler's Eagle's Nest," it actually refers to just the mountaintop chalet. This excessive lodge was only the tip of a vast Berchtesgaden compound. What remains is now wide open to visitors. Because it was here that he claimed to be inspired, some call Berchtesgaden the "cradle of the Third Reich."     [Eagle`s Nest: Berghof - Obersalzberg]

On a Munich Tour, Confronting a Dark Past     washingtonpost :: 2006-09-25
Americans are especially interested in Third Reich tours, says Vicky Weller. Germans "deal with their past. They don't hide it. Buildings have been left." Michael R. Marrus says sometimes it's the things that aren't there: for instance, the buildings that were bombed by the Allies to erase Nazi memories. 80% of Munich was destroyed by the air attacks" during World War II. --- The Feldherrnhalle is the spiritual center of the Nazi movement. At this memorial to German heroes of previous wars, Hitler in 1923 attempted a coup against the Bavarian government - the "beer hall putsch" during which 16 Nazis were killed.     [WW2 Tours - History and Battlefields]

New Aerial View of World War II Offered in Specialised Tours     prweb :: 2006-08-31
The London-based tour operator offers guided aerial tours of historic World War II landmarks: the beaches of Normandy stormed by Allied forces on D-Day. Accompanied by a military expert guide, the tour flies over Portsmouth Harbour, where General Eisenhower's headquarters were stationed and across the English Channel to the Normandy Invasion Beaches. Dramatic views of D-Day's historic landmarks can be witnessed from low-altitude, including: Omaha beach - where the U.S 1st infantry division and 29th infantry division came ashore and The Pointe du Hoc cliffs - scaled by 2 U.S Rangers on D-Day.    

Embarking on Hitler's trail in Munich     deccanherald :: 2006-03-26
Konigsplatz, in Munich, was Hitler's favourite parade ground, a place to mass and strut helmeted troops in uniforms, military bands and swastika flags. Munich is intimately connected with Adolf Hitler's youth and his life as a Nazi leader. Places in Munich associated with Hitler are quite popular with tourist. Visitors are curious to know where he lived, the restaurants he frequented, places where he delivered his fiery speeches, the place where the historic but failed political coup (the Putsch) took place and his Munich headquarters. In his autobiography, Mein Kamph, Hitler writes fondly about Munich.     [Munich & Hitler - Nazi Party Stronghold]

The Eagle's Nest: Nazism, Totalitarianism, Tourism     VersusMag :: 2005-10-28
Perched high atop an alpine peak, near the Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden, is one of the most famous houses in the world. The Eagle's Nest - Adolf Hitler's personal mountain retreat - sits amid swirling clouds and affords a breathtaking view of the picturesque countryside and the Königsee, a pristine alpine lake famous for its placid surface. It was here that the Führer contemplated many of the Third Reich's most heinous crimes; it was here that he intimidated foreign heads of state to accede to his megalomaniacal whims. And it is here that tourists flock every year, anxious to experience natural grandeur and to contemplate the history of the place.     [Ruins & Bunkers of Third Reich]

History tours: Germany turns the relics of its Nazi past over to tourism     telegraph.co.uk :: 2001-02-11
Lately many sites of importance in the Third Reich have become tourist magnets. In Ravensbruck, 8 of the 23 former SS guardhouses will be converted to cater. Thousands of people traipsed through a museum carved in the air-raid tunnels of the mountain at Berchtesgaden where Adolf Hitler had his summer residence Eagle's Nest. In the forests of Karinhall, the country seat of Hermann Goering, amateur treasure hunters rake the ground each weekend for lost artefacts. For every foot of building above ground in Berlin, there are three below; secret tunnels and bunkers begun when Hitler came to power in 1933.    

Bavaria and Hitler's house - 8 miles of underground tunnels     telegraph :: 2000-05-09
2001 - The Bavarian government is turning Adolf Hitler's mountain retreat, high in the south German Alps, into a museum tourist attraction. When the US army left in 1995 the government in Munich did not know what to do with the six square-mile complex straddling the Obersalzberg Mountain. What would anyone do with such bizarre relics - with eight miles of underground tunnels, for example, a housing estate for SS officers, Hermann Goering's picnic site, a bomb-proof kennel for Blondi, Hitler's Alsatian, and a brass-lined lift which rises through a hollowed-out mountain, its power supplied by a bank of U-boat engines?     [Eagle`s Nest: Berghof - Obersalzberg]

See also:
'Third Reich in Ruins'
'Nazi Memorabilia, Militaria'.

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