I was going through the pictures from my trip to Germany back in 06, and came accross some pictures I took of the Kehlsteinhaus (also known as the Eagle's Nest). I thought it would be interesting idea to start a thread were we can post pictures of the various historical places we have visited. I'll start us off with, of course, the Kehlsteinhaus.





Not of the Haus itself, but of the Königssee. This was taken from the same spot where I took the pictures of the Kehlsteinhaus

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An absolutely beautiful part of Germany. It's amazing how much forest is standing in Germany, after all these centuries of human occupation. It's a grand testimonial to how much they love their country.

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I see your mountains and raise you... mountains!




(And a little ruin called Machu Picchu. )

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The Eagle's Nest is definitely situated in a gorgeous place with an incredible view. Funny enough, Hitler only went into it a few times because he was afraid of heights and instead made the Burghof further down the mountain (badly damaged by bombings late in the war and afterwards demolished) his primary mountain retreat.

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James Hoban. Irish Architect. Member of the Royal Dublin Society. Hoban designed and built the White House and based it upon the top exterior and interior two floors of Leinster House, then known as Kildare House, which is now the current Irish Parliament building. He was also a supervisory architect of the US Capitol Building.

He he, I've been there too. Amazing!

I really like Thorhammer’s thread about historic places and I’m somewhat surprised that so few of us have posted pictures/reports until now.

I mean, the USPO community doesn’t seem to be a hang out place for never-leaving- their- trailer- park “trash” and that’s why I’m really hoping to read far more reports in here in the future!

Anyway Wednesday (05/21/08) I “had” a day to fill with activities in Tokyo before my flight back home and so I decided to visit the Yasukuni-shrine.

It was founded 1879 as the “nation’s peace shrine” and it’s the place, where Japan remembers its 2.5 million soldiers fallen since the Meiji restoration.
It’s the shrine, whose visits by Japanese politicians use to provoke harsh reactions from their fellow Asian neighbors.

At first those harsh reactions seem rather “irrational” to me, especially giving the shrine’s “small” size and the rather peaceful architecture/atmosphere of the building/site, especially when compared to some “Western” war memorial sites.

Somehow I also don’t buy the argument, that those reactions are based on the fact that among the 2.5 million dead soldiers remembered/buried there, some few have been war criminals.

I mean, what are a few war criminal’s “souls” compared to the millions of “poor”, regular “drafties”/soldiers, who are buried/remembered there?

Nothing! Anyway the museum called Yushukan, attached right next to the Yasukuni-shrine, offers a rather clear explanation for those harsh Asian reactions.

It’s officially the museum to “remember Japanese soldiers killed in action” and I really liked the aspect of the museum focused on honoring Nippon’s fallen soldiers and their sacrifices/bravery (an aspect which I desperately miss in Germany and really hope we Germans could do one day as well)

Well at the same time the museum’s core message seems to be unbelievable political incorrect and also pure history rewriting (at least) for most foreigners.

For example, Japan’s war with China is just called the “Chinese incident”, the Nanking massacre isn’t mentioned at all and the war with America is being presented as highly justified. The museum tour ends with explanations/examples of how Nippons war efforts motivated/encouraged other Asian nations to seek their own independence.

Well apart from that, especially the high respect/emphasize for occurred and/or planned kamikaze-tactics, illustrations of kamikaze methods (kamikaze airplanes/pilots, coastal kamikaze anti landing boat divers, kamikaze submarines or kamikaze human tank “killers”) is somewhat “disturbing/confusing”.

Even as the museum’s message is in parts “confusing/disturbing” it’s still very good at explaining Nippons actions/motivations back then and by changing/readjusting the emphasis/focus of the museum by e.g. adding a section like “how/why Japanese actions/politics “lost”the war” the museum could be so much more/better.

My view is influenced by my personal opinion that for example German museums/sites totally fail to explain/show how the views, values and social realities have been in Germany(and in the rest of the world) before/during the time of WWII and how/why they have affected events/policies.
This lack of explanation/perspective causes mainly younger visitors to be totally unable to really understand historical events and to appreciate all the lessons, changes and the social obstacles which had to be overcome to finally reach the point were we are now.

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