If you’re a military history buff looking for an unforgettable WW2 tour in Europe this fall, there is still time to join our Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Tour, 2-7 October 2025. This tour explores key Third Reich sites that showcase the early years of the Nazi rise to power as well as the drastic late-war efforts undertaken to shield the Reich from collapse. All of the sites selected are situated in the stunningly beautiful German state of Bavaria and the neighboring country of Austria. Sites include the Führer City of Nuremberg, Landsberg Prison, Dachau Concentration Camp, Außenlager Mühldorf and the Weingut ME 262 bunker site, Ebensee and the Zement tunnel system (planned for the A-9 long-range missile system) as well as the remains of key Nazi elite residences in Obersalzberg. The juxtaposition of scenic beauty and haunting locations of the Nazi regime make this a tour you won’t want to miss.

The WW2 tour has been designed and is being led by Graham Gaulke following his popular Third Reich Underground Tour in Thuringia, Germany last year. We hope the brief Q&A with the tour designer that follows peaks your interest in joining us.

2024 Third Reich Underground Tour participants hiking the Walpersberg, site of ME 262 production

Q: As the tour’s name says, it focuses on the beginning and end of the Third Reich. What common theme connects these places?

A: For a start, both the beginning and end of the regime were characterized by a vicious devotion to Nazi ideology through megalomanic construction projects. In the beginning, it was those which would display the all-encompassing power and authority of National Socialism, through monumental structures such as the Nuremberg Parade and Rally Grounds. In the end, it was the other megalomaniac structures, built by slave labor, which were supposed to save the crumbling Reich, like the giant concrete bunkers which were supposed to produce Me 262 jet fighters.

Film clip from Triumph of the Will showing the Nazi rally grounds at Nuremberg

Q: What made you select the sites that you did?

A: I wanted places that would show the underlying contrast between Hitler’s envisioned grandeur and the regime’s total oppression. By pitting places like Obersalzberg and Nuremberg against those like Dachau and Mühldorf, I chose sites which were not only instrumental in National Socialist propaganda, but also its realities; even others, like the Ebensee concentration camp we’ll visit, were created in the midst of the picturesque Austrian Alps. It’s the contrast between the Reich’s ideals and reality which shaped Nazi Germany far beyond the Wehrmacht’s battles.

The picturesque Fuehrer City of Nuremberg, site of many Nazi meetings and Leni Riefenstahl’s famous film, Triumph of the Will

Q: Did any of the sites play a role in both the beginning and the end? How did their purpose reflect both extremes of Nazi Germany?

A: For the theme of monumental structures to promote propaganda and later to protect the Reich from bombers, Albert Speer was the driving force from beginning to end. As the Reich’s architect, it was he who designed the rally grounds, and as Armaments Minister, it was he who ultimately was responsible for nearly all Nazi industry in the final years of the war, overseeing the underground armaments relocation and aircraft programs.

Dachau, on the other hand, as the first permanent concentration camp, was one of the few places which served more or less the same purpose from 1933 to 1945: a place of terror. But even others had almost dual roles from the beginning to the end. It was in Landsberg Prison where Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, and likewise in Landsberg where Nazi war criminals, convicted in the Nuremberg and Dachau trials, were imprisoned and, for some, were executed. And even during the war, a major Dachau satellite camp network existed just on the periphery of Landsberg, called “Kaufering” For those who have watched Band of Brothers, it is one of the Kaufering camps which is depicted in Episode 9.

Old postcard showing Landsberg Prison, where Hitler wrote Mein Kampf after the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch

Q: Out of the sites selected, do you have a favorite and why?

A: The Mühldorf bunker is most fascinating to me, because it is one of the few “monumental” ruins to remain more or less untouched, to the point where you can still find prisoners’ footprints in the concrete.

The Muehldorf Bunker, designed to allow Germany to continue jet aircraft production under Allied bombardment. Photo by Graham Gaulke.

Knee Deep Into History battlefield tours are designed for those seriously interested in history and they are designed to get clients into the field rather than just visiting memorials and markers. For example, the standard tour of Hitler’s “Eagles Nest” includes only a visit to the Kehlsteinhaus, today a teahouse, situated atop the Kehlstein. There is only limited mention of the various Nazi leader houses in Obersalzberg. On this WW2 tour, we will hike the remains of some of the key leader’s houses as well.

Our small group tours also provide participants with an opportunity to have a lot of interaction with their knowledgeable guides, and we feel this is one of the real strengths of the small group tours concept. This tour will be led by historians Graham Gaulke and Randy Gaulke. We currently have space for additional participants, as we can accommodate up to twelve participants in two nine-person vans. If you are looking for an unforgettable history tour this fall, join us on this look at early and late-war Nazi sites in picturesque Bavaria and Austria. Here’s our tour brochure: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Tour Flyer 2025 FINAL TNR12. You can also email Randy Gaulke at kneedeepintohistory@gmail.com with your questions. We hope to see you on this tour.

Discussing the day’s activities over dinner

After decades of personal battlefield tours, Randy Gaulke quit his job as a financial analyst in Manhattan and spent eight months in France in 2017-18 as a freelance guide during the World War I Centennial. He subsequently founded Knee Deep Into History, with a philosophy of getting clients into the field on a small-group tour designed for the military history enthusiast. Equally important is the attempt to tell both sides of the story and to help Americans bridge cultures. Most tours are led jointly with European guides, including retired Bundeswehr officer and historian Markus Klauer. The groups enjoy family-owned European hotels and restaurants. Experience a military history tour that brings the battlefield to life! Learn more at www.kneedeepintohistory.com Slow Travel Tours is an affiliation of small-group tour operators who offer personalized trips in Italy, France and other European countries.