There are some dark shadows persisting from the past in Bad Reichenhall. The country house apt where we are staying is actually located just outside of the village of Karlstein which is only 1 km from Bad Reichenhall. There is a military installation in Karlstein (roughly 1/2 mile square) that was built by the Nazi's to train mountain troops. The original stone Nazi eagle insignia is still on the corner of the building beside the main entrance although the swastika in the wreath below the eagle has been changed to an Edelweise flower. A sign on the surrounding fence says "bild vorboten" (pictures forbidden) so we could not take a picture as there were guards by the entrance.
First shadow: Nazi troops from Karlstein were sent to Crete during the war. There was resistance from the Crete civilians. An officer ordered that for every German soldier killed by the resisters, 10 males from the civilian population were to be rounded up and executed. The Karlstein troops participated in those executions.
The bridge we cross from Karlstein into Bad Reichenhall is called the Kretebrucke (Crete bridge) as a memorial to the Karlstein soldiers and in addition, there is a memorial service each May in Bad Reichenhall commemorating the soldiers that died in Crete conducted by Nazi sympathizers. There is a group trying to get the name of the bridge changed and also demonstrates against the commemoration services as the speakers still make anti-Semitic comments.
Second shadow: Twelve French soldiers that fought with the Nazi's and were wounded were in a hospital at Karlstein at the close of the war. When these soldiers learned the French army was coming into Bad Reichenhall, they tried to escape but were captured. They were summarily executed in Karlstein on orders of a French general without any military court procedure. They were executed on the day the war ended in Europe. They declined blind folds and insisted on facing the firing squad (although orders were to shoot them from behind) and they all shouted Viva la France. Some argue they got their just reward as traitors to France. Others argue they were wounded soldiers and should have been taken as prisoners of war and tried by a military court.
No pictures for this post.
