In the middle of a small mountain town called La Falda, in the Sierras de Cordoba, is a partially abandoned hotel called Hotel Eden with myths of ghosts and rumors of Hitler visits.

The hotel was built in the late 1800’s but sold after little success, in 1905, to a German couple, Walter and Ida Eichorn, with both connections to the German expat community in Argentina, and support for the Nazi Party.

Throughout its lifetime, the Eden Hotel was visited by several famous faces including Che Guevara, Albert Einstein, and Ruben Dario. There is photographic proof of these guests, however, rumors swirl about one particular German Fuhrer who may or may not have spent time here, years after his supposed death.

In the years leading up to World War II, the hotel was in fact known to be a vacation spot for Nazi officials. There are strong German influences up and down the Sierras de Cordoba (La Cumbrecita, Villa General Belgrano, even etc.), so it is no surprise that several Germans would choose this particular high class hotel to make their South American vacationing dreams come true.

Now it is just a museum, serving mainly Argentine tourists, and a guide that talks way too fast for me to understand. I think I understood roughly 30 percent of what he said during the entire tour, so unfortunately I am not able to share the information, which I’m sure is great if your native language is Spanish. Lots of laughter from the Argentinians. Lots of “que ha dicho?” (What did he say?) from the sole native English speaker in the crowd.

---