Fire at Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) in Bavaria; suspect detained
Police held a suspicious person after the remote Kehlsteinhaus was engulfed in flames; investigators suspect possible arson.
German police said they have detained a suspect after a fire broke out at the former mountain retreat of Adolf Hitler in Bavaria, known as the Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus), located on the Obersalzberg summit in southern Germany.
About 200 firefighters were deployed to fight the blaze at the remote, hard-to-reach Kehlsteinhaus. Emergency crews arriving at the scene found high flames and the building fully engulfed by fire, authorities said.
Police and investigators secure the site
Police reported that a suspicious person has been held in temporary custody. They added there were no injuries and that no one was found inside the building.
The fire alarm was triggered by a smoke detector on Friday evening at around 21:50. Officials have not yet released an official cause, but German media say investigators suspect arson.
Weather cameras recorded the structure burning into the early hours of Saturday morning while snow fell on the alpine summit. The access road to the complex is blocked by police, and the newspaper Bild reported that authorities arrested a motorcyclist encountered while heading to the site.
Built between 1937 and 1938, the Kehlsteinhaus is part of the Third Reich's architectural legacy linked to Adolf Hitler — the regime responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews, Roma, LGBTQ people and communists in the Holocaust. Intended as a monument to Nazi rule, Hitler rarely visited the site. The building survived World War II undamaged, and since 1952 it has housed a restaurant and a museum exhibit dedicated to the location's Nazi past.
Photo: Iks)
