Obersalzberg Documentation Centre Reopens with IWM Digital Expertise

The expanded Obersalzberg Documentation Centre reopened at the end of September. The new permanent exhibition, which is now twice the size of the original, features many multimedia exhibits. At the IWM Media Table, users can digitally deconstruct propaganda images of Hitler taken by his personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann, portraying him as the "People's Leader".

Making knowledge tangible by swiping, zooming, and sliding 

By swiping, zooming, and sliding on the multi-touch surface, developed by the Multimodal Interaction lab, visitors can deconstruct and analyse the extensively retouched images of Hitler. Such applications aim to make it easier for users to interact intuitively with complex information. Professor Peter Gerjets' lab is actively working on improving the use of this technology and has been collaborating with the memorial site since 2016 on the project "Obersalzberg from the Visitor's Perspective".

An important learning site 

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The theme of the memorial, "Idyll and Crime", aims to illustrate the close connection between Obersalzberg and the mass crimes of the Nazi regime. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder, who officially reopened the memorial, said the exhibition "exposes the madness of National Socialism". His colleague, Finance and Interior Minister Albert Füracker, described the exhibition as an important place of learning. During the Nazi era, Obersalzberg became Hitler's retreat and second seat of government. Thousands of forced labourers were involved in the construction of more than six kilometres of bunkers and other facilities. For the first time, several hundred metres of the bunker complex are now open to the public.