Note: The town of Berchtesgaden in located in Bavaria in southern Germany on the Berchtesgden Stream in a deep valley surrounded on three sides by Austrian territory. Salt mines opened here in the 12th century, sparking a long rivalry over the trade with nearby Salzburg. The town was ruled by the provosts of the Augustinian abbey from 1300. Austria occupied it in 1704 and annexed it in 1805. After 1810, after a brief period of French rule, it was ceded to the kingdom of Bavaria. Some medieval architecture remains, notably the abbey church and the castle occupied first by the provost-rulers then by the kings of Bavaria in the warm summer months. In the 1930s and 1940s, Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders had chalets on the Obersalzberg overlooking the town. Hitler's chalet was bombed in World War II and in the 1950s was leveled and had trees planted over it. The local economy depends primarily on tourism, and the salt mines still function.
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