The World of Yesterday but hated politics and shunned political engagement. His autobiography shows some reluctance to analyse Nazism as a political ideology; he tended simply to regard it as the rule of one particularly evil man, Hitler. Zweig was struck that the "Berghof", Hitler's mountain residence in Berchtesgaden, was just across the valley from his own house outside Salzburg. Berchtesgaden was an area of early Nazi activity. Zweig believed strongly in Europeanism against nationalism. Zweig also describes his passion for collecting manuscripts, mostly literary and musical. Zweig collaborated in the early 1930s with composer Richard Strauss on the opera "Die schweigsame Frau", which
Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden is the oldest active salt mine in Germany, in which salt is mainly extracted in the wet, and also a showcase in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria. The salt mining industry in Berchtesgaden formed before the 13th century and was the economic backbone of the Berchtesgaden Provostry. Already Eberwin, the first Stiftspropst of Berchtesgaden, had access to the first salt springs during his reign (1101-1142). Propst Dietrich (1174-1178) was the first to break down the salt on the estates of the monastery Berchtesgaden, but also began to trade with it. A visit to the mine is open for tourists