BERLIN - Firefighters battled on Oct 24 to put out flames that tore through Adolf Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” mountain retreat, as police detained a suspect who investigators said may have psychiatric problems.
The alarm was raised late on Oct 23 at the former guest house for top Nazi officials, a picturesque spot 1,834m up in the Bavarian Alps.
As snow fell on the Alpine peak, the Eagle’s Nest was still engulfed in flames at dawn on Oct 24.
By the afternoon, fire chief Michael Brandl told journalists the last elements of the inferno were being put out.
No-one has entered the building because of fears it could collapse, he added.
“We are very lucky that there are no injuries,” Brandl said.
Some 200 firefighters were mobilised for the operation at the Kehlsteinhaus residence on a summit above Obersalzberg in southern Germany. The site draws 350,000 visitors a year, according to Bavarian state authorities.
Authorities said access had been difficult after the fire alarm went off at 9.50pm.
Heavy rain was followed by a snow storm and then violent winds.
Police spokeswoman Lisa Maier said the firefighters had needed breathing apparatus to get near.
Building ‘completely ablaze’ when firefighters arrived
Firefighters saw flames rising high into the air as they approached the scene, only to find the building “completely ablaze”, police said.
Bavarian state interior minister Joachim Herrmann said the fire appeared to be “a malicious act” and police said that a suspect was detained at the scene.
Firefighters and police heading to the Eagle’s Nest saw “a rider on a red motorcycle with no licence plate” and stopped him, Robert Holzinger, a Bavarian police official, told journalists.
Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” mountain retreat was a former guest house for top Nazi officials in the Bavarian Alps.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The suspect is a 33-year-old German with ties to the area but who does not live there, Rainer Vietze, of the public prosecutor’s office, told the local PNP newspaper.
“It looks likely to be a case of arson,” Vietze added – but given the historical context of the building said authorities were for the moment not ruling out a political motive.
The suspect underwent a psychiatric examination before being interned in a psychiatric establishment on a provisional basis, said Vietze.
Police blocked access to the retreat on Oct 24.
Toxic legacy of Hitler’s Third Reich
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 deaths of millions of Jews, as well as Roma, LGBTQ people and communists during the Holocaust.
It was designed to serve as a monument to Hitler’s rule, although the dictator himself seldom visited the complex, which was heavily guarded. Hitler had another country residence nearby at Berghof.
Built of stone and granite, the Eagle’s Nest offers an exceptional view of the Alpine landscape and was designed to impress foreign diplomats. Hitler used it as a backdrop for his propaganda movies.
It survived World War II undamaged and later gained notoriety through post-war Hollywood films that recreated the residence.
Since 1952, it has hosted both an exhibition recounting the house’s Nazi history and a restaurant.
The website says the Eagle’s Nest “stands for the insanity of the regime and the world on the Obersalzberg, where plans for war and mass murder were formed”.
The Bavarian interior minister said the retreat “will under no circumstances be left in a state of ruin”.
“This house – the entire site and its surroundings – is linked to a specific history. It is important that we continue our work of remembrance,” Herrmann said. AFP