Berchtesgaden gave rise to "Malereck" ("painters' corner") on the shore of Königssee in nearby Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden. The most famous author who lived in Berchtesgaden was Ludwig Ganghofer. Adolf Hitler had been vacationing in the Berchtesgaden area since the 1920s. He purchased a home in the Obersalzberg above the town on the flank of the Hoher Goll and began extensive renovations on his "Berghof" in the following years. As other top Third Reich figures such as Hermann Göring, Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, Heinrich Himmler and Albert Speer began to frequent the area the Party began to purchase and requisition land in
Freilassing–Berchtesgaden railway Bavarian mountains, iron works, and salt works (). The construction of the Reichenhall–Berchtesgaden section was completed in 1884. On 25 October 1888 a festively decorated first train ran from Reichenhall to Berchtesgaden. The travel time for the entire route was initially 90 minutes and it was later reduced to 70 minutes. In 1914 the line was electrified. The AC power was supplied by the Saalach power station in Bad Reichenhall-Kirchberg, which is fed by lake Saalachsee and still supplies power for trains. The electric train operations started in 1916 with specially designed electric locomotives of class EP 3/6. There was