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
Great North Mountain which offers many hiking and hunting trails, such as the Seven Springs trail, and those leading to an overlook on Big Schloss, a peak in the area. Beside the small town of Orkney Springs, Virginia, at the foot of the mountain, is Shrine Mont, a retreat and conference center owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. The retreat includes the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration and The Virginia House (formerly known as the Orkney Springs Hotel). Great North Mountain Great North Mountain is a long mountain ridge within the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia.