Europe

Hitler's Eagle's Nest burns in Bavaria, police detain suspect as German media report suspected arson

Retreat that survived the war has hosted exhibition and restaurant since 1952

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A still from a video of the fire sweeping through mountain guesthouse Kehlsteinhaus, formerly Adolf Hitler's Eagle’s Nest retreat. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images A still from a video of the fire sweeping through mountain guesthouse Kehlsteinhaus, formerly Adolf Hitler's Eagle’s Nest retreat. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images theguardian.com
Major fire breaks out at Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria Major fire breaks out at Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria euronews.com

Fire has swept through the Kehlsteinhaus, Adolf Hitler's former mountain retreat above Obersalzberg in Bavaria, leaving the building completely ablaze late on Friday evening. Bavarian police said a suspect was taken into custody shortly after the fire broke out, that nobody was found inside the building and that no one was injured. German media reported that investigators suspect arson, though police have not named a cause.

Around 200 firefighters were deployed to the peak, which stands at 1,834 metres; police spokesperson Lisa Maier said crews could enter only with heavy breathing apparatus, and officers blocked the road leading to the retreat. The tabloid Bild reported that a motorcyclist encountered on the way to the scene was among those detained, and police said whether the person in custody is connected to the fire is "currently the subject of the criminal investigation". A news conference was scheduled for Saturday.

The house was built between 1937 and 1938 as a monument to Hitler's rule — part of a Third Reich legacy that includes the murder of millions of Jews, Roma, LGBTQ people and communists in the Holocaust. Hitler himself rarely visited. The building survived the Second World War undamaged, and since 1952 has hosted an exhibition recounting its Nazi history alongside a restaurant. The first warning on Friday came from a smoke detector; by the early hours of Saturday a weather camera was still transmitting pictures of the house in flames as snow fell on the Alpine peak.

The regime the house was built to glorify lasted twelve years. The exhibition mounted inside its showpiece had run for more than seventy when the smoke detector went off.