Hitler's Eagle's Nest largely destroyed: 200 firefighters, one man detained

A fire broke out late on Friday evening at the Kehlsteinhaus, better known as Hitler's Eagle's Nest. According to police, the building, standing 1,834 metres above Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, has been largely destroyed. Nobody was injured, and as far as is known so far, nobody was inside.

Around 200 firefighters and other rescuers fought the blaze. When they arrived, the building was already fully in flames. They had to tackle it in difficult conditions: access is demanding, it was snowing at that altitude, and the building could only be entered with breathing apparatus, police spokeswoman Lisa Maier told the Guardian, as reported by that outlet. Early on Saturday morning, weather camera footage still showed it burning fiercely, and the authorities closed the access road.

Police detained a suspect in the area. According to the German tabloid Bild, he is a motorcyclist whom officers came across on his way towards the fire. According to the STA news agency, investigators believe it was arson. Dnevnik, a Slovenian daily, reports otherwise: investigators are still establishing whether the man is connected to the fire at all, and the motive is not known for now. The cause of the fire is officially unknown.

Who is right will be shown by the investigation. Until then, the man is detained, not convicted.

The building has stood since 1938 and was designed as a guest house for Nazi officials and their guests. According to sources, Hitler rarely visited it, but he used it as a partial seat of government, including for meetings with commanders while planning the invasion of the Soviet Union. It is built of stone and granite to impress foreign diplomats. It survived the Second World War undamaged. A restaurant has operated in it since 1952, an exhibition on the history of the building is also open to visitors, and tourists reach it by bus.