Kehlsteinhaus Fire: German Man Held After Blaze at Berchtesgaden Site
Police in Bavaria detained a 33-year-old man after a fire broke out on Friday night at the Kehlsteinhaus, the mountaintop structure known as the Eagle's Nest that was built for Adolf Hitler's use during World War Two.
By Arjun Wojcik ·
Firefighters responding to a call from Traunstein dispatchers at 21:15 local time on Friday found the Kehlsteinhaus burning. About 200 emergency personnel worked through steep terrain to reach the building, which sits at around 1,800 meters above the town of Berchtesgaden. No injuries were reported. Police later stopped a 33-year-old German man on a motorcycle near the site and detained him in connection with the fire.
A criminal investigation is under way, and police said they are examining a possible motive. Gerhart Holzinger, a local police official, told a press conference that investigators had no evidence of other suspects. Local media described the building as largely destroyed and asked people to avoid the area.
Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's interior minister, said the site would "under no circumstances remain a ruin," broadcaster BR24 reported. He also said, "It is important that we continue our work of remembrance."
The Kehlsteinhaus was completed in 1938 and used by Hitler and his entourage during the war. The wider complex at Berchtesgaden served as a headquarters, where Hitler and senior Nazi officials planned the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union from the nearby Berchof residence. The building survived Germany's defeat in 1945 and now operates as a mountain inn, drawing tourists to its ridge above Berchtesgaden.
Its website describes the site as "a cautionary reminder of the abysses of the inhumane Nazi dictatorship." Hitler and his followers were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people, including the mass murder of European Jews, as well as homosexuals, Roma, disabled people and ethnic minorities sent to concentration camps.
Germany and Austria have long argued over what to do with buildings tied to Hitler. In June, Berlin authorities said they would demolish one of his bunkers, called "the power centre of Nazi Germany," to build flats and offices; critics wanted a museum instead. In July, after years of dispute, Austrian officials reopened Hitler's birth house in Braunau am Inn as a police station.
Source: BBC News
