Fire breaks out at Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest mountain retreat in Germany, suspect arrested

BERLIN, Germany — German police said Saturday they had detained a suspect following a fire at Adolf Hitler’s mountain retreat, known as the Eagle’s Nest, in the state of Bavaria.

Around 200 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze at the Nazi dictator’s remote and difficult-to-access Kehlsteinhaus residence, on the peak of Obersalzberg in southern Germany.

Firefighters saw flames rising high into the air as they approached the scene, only to find the building “completely ablaze,” police said.

“A suspicious person was taken into temporary custody,” they said in a later statement, adding that nobody was injured in the blaze.

Police spokeswoman Lisa Maier said firefighters struggled to tackle the fire due to its location at an altitude of 1,834 meters (6,000 feet).

The building was only accessible with “heavy breathing apparatus,” she said.

Authorities were alerted to the fire on Friday evening, when a smoke detector triggered a fire alarm at around 9:50 pm (1950 GMT), police said.

No potential reason for the fire was given, but the German media reported that the investigators suspected it was the result of arson.

As snow fell on the Alpine peak, the Eagle’s Nest was still engulfed in flames in the early hours of Saturday, a weather camera showed.

Monument to Hitler

Officers blocked access to the road leading to the retreat, an AFP photographer saw.

The firefighters found no one inside the building.

Maier, the police spokeswoman, said the investigation was still ongoing. The police have planned a news conference later Saturday.

German tabloid Bild reported that the authorities arrested a motorcyclist they came across on their way to the scene.

Built between 1937 and 1938, the Eagle’s Nest forms part of the toxic legacy of Hitler’s Third Reich, which was responsible for the murder of six million Jews along with other victims of Nazi persecution, including Roma, LGBTQ people and communists.

The estate was built for the Nazi leader’s 50th birthday and was designed to serve as a monument to Hitler’s rule, though the dictator himself rarely visited the complex.

Built of stone and granite, the residence offers an exceptional view of the picturesque Bavarian Alpine landscape and was designed to impress foreign diplomats, sitting some 6,000 feet high in the Obersalzberg mountains.

It survived the Second World War undamaged.

Since 1952, it has hosted both an exhibition recounting the house’s Nazi history and a restaurant.