Underground Lake

Leaving the Alps was a sad experience, but I was anxious to return to Vienna. We were all pretty tired from the long hikes we had taken the previous day, but the opportunity to see an underground lake invigorated the group with new energy. The Seegrotte is the largest underground lake in Europe and has a long and eventful history. The lake has not always existed in the place it currently resides, as it was previously a gypsum mine, which explains the intricate tunnel system that is used today for taking tour groups. After the mining accident that caused the cavern to flood, Hitler and the Nazis used the cavern for the production of aircrafts around the time of the Second World War. The cave is in a large part very dark, wet, and gloomy so I was surprised to hear that people have actually had their weddings down there!

While I have to admit while the tour was pretty interesting, I think our group fell victim to a serious tourist trap. We should have known when they advertised the boat ride through the cold, dark cave as “romantic” that we were in for a very touristy adventure. The boat ride that was advertised as the main attraction lasted about all of 5 minutes and we only got to see what I thought was a very small portion of the lake. While the lake might have been touristy it was still fairly interesting and said a lot about the control and influence of Hitler in Austria.

Hitler, being an Austrian, wanted to absorb Austria into his growing area of control in Central and Eastern Europe. Hitler had threatened an invasion of Austria if they did not freely join his growing empire and ultimately did in 1938. 99.7% of Austria is recorded as being in favor of annexation by Germany. While this ultimately led to huge number of arrests of political dissidents and Jews, I think it says a lot about the control afforded to Hitler. The Nazis were able to gain access to this huge underground mine in Austria to build their aircrafts and I feel that is a manifestation of the control he had over the city. Finding and using an underground mine is not exactly like taking over a military base that’s in plain site. The support for Hitler in Austria would have translated to greater ease in gaining complete control over resources within the country than in an area that forcefully resisted his control.

The memory of World War II and Hitler’s presence in Austria seems to be a very debatable issue here in Austria. We have had many different opinions on the Viennese memory of Hitler and German occupation ranging from museum displays to accounts from tour guides. Perhaps the two most prominent examples are the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum and the Wien Museum. While both museums portray World War II and Hitler’s occupation as a horrible time for the atrocities committed on the Jews, political dissidents, and other minorities, there are definitely discrepancies in the portrayal of the manner by which Hitler invaded Austria. At the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum there are images of Nazi soldiers with savage animal heads to convey an obvious feeling of Nazi aggression and evilness, but there is little in the museum about how Hitler came to Austria. What is there discusses the invasion, but they have omitted the support that Hitler had upon arrival. The Wien Musuem has a very similar display, obviously without the detail in military relics as the Heeresgeschichtliche, but the same omission of Viennese support for Hitler. It’s strange how the Viennese have been able to forget how they welcomed Hitler with virtually open arms, but I guess that wouldn’t be the most popular detail when talking about one of the most nefarious people in modern history.