Suspect arrested after fire destroys Hitler's Eagle's Nest retreat in Bavaria
A fire tore through the historic Eagle's Nest building in Bavaria on Friday night, largely destroying it. German police arrested a suspect, with arson suspected.
Arrest after blaze guts Nazi-era Eagle's Nest on Bavarian mountaintop
German police have arrested a suspect after fire tore through Adolf Hitler's former mountain retreat in Bavaria on Friday night, leaving the historic Eagle's Nest building largely destroyed, theguardian.com reports.
Around 200 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze at the Kehlsteinhaus — a protected, purpose-built residence perched on the peak of Obersalzberg in southern Germany. Flames rose high into the night sky, and crews arrived at around 9.50pm to find the entire building engulfed.
"A suspicious person was taken into temporary custody," police said in a statement, adding that no injuries were reported.
Police spokesperson Lisa Maier said crews faced significant difficulties due to the building's location at an altitude of 1,834 metres. The structure was only accessible with "heavy breathing apparatus", she said. A smoke detector had triggered the alarm at approximately 9.15pm.
German media reported that investigators suspected arson, though police gave no official cause for the fire. Firefighters found no one inside the building, which was still reported to be burning as late as 7am on Saturday morning. The blaze appeared to be out by later that morning, though smoke continued to rise from the ruins.
Fire departments from six municipalities responded, alongside the Bavarian Red Cross, local mountain rescue services and police. Officers blocked access to the road leading to the site.
A police spokesperson told German tabloid Bild: "It is damaged to a large extent. The house is unlikely to be saved."
According to Bild, a motorcyclist encountered by officers on their way to the scene was the individual taken into custody. His connection to the fire remains unclear, and police declined to release details about his identity.
Built between 1937 and 1938 and formally inaugurated by Hitler on his 50th birthday in 1939, the Eagle's Nest was constructed via a road cut through previously impassable mountain terrain. Visitors would enter a tunnel and ascend 124 metres in a brass-lined lift buried within the mountain.
The building was one of the few structures from the Hitler era to have survived largely undamaged. Its website described it as a monument to "the insanity of the regime." Since 1952, it has housed an exhibition by the Institute for Contemporary History detailing its Nazi past, as well as a restaurant.
The Eagle's Nest became widely known in the postwar period through its depiction in US war films, though in reality Hitler visited the complex rarely. It forms part of the broader toxic legacy of the Third Reich, which was responsible for the murder of millions of Jews, Roma, LGBTQ people and communists during the Holocaust.
Maier confirmed that police were continuing to investigate and planned to hold a news conference later on Saturday. Agence France-Presse contributed reporting.
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)