A fire badly damaged the Eagle’s Nest, a mountaintop retreat built for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in Germany, as firefighters struggled to control the blaze amid snow and strong winds. Police arrested a man on suspicion of arson, authorities said Saturday.
Emergency services in the Berchtesgaden district of the Bavarian Alps in southeastern Germany received an alarm at around 9:15pm Friday. Firefighters and police rushed to the site, which lies at the end of a narrow mountain road that passes through several tunnels. They spotted the flames as they approached.
On their way, they stopped and arrested a man riding a motorcycle down the mountain road in the opposite direction.
Prosecutors said the 33-year-old German suspect has ties to the Berchtesgaden area but does not currently live there. He was questioned and showed signs of mental illness before being sent to a psychiatric facility, they said.
However, investigators will also examine whether the fire had a political motive because of the building’s historical significance. Police said there was no current evidence suggesting that anyone else was involved.
Rain followed by the season’s first significant snowfall, along with strong winds, made firefighting particularly difficult. After several hours of work, firefighters had to withdraw overnight, officials said.
No one was injured in the fire. Firefighters hoped to complete their work on Saturday but could not enter the building because of the risk of falling debris.
Known in German as the Kehlsteinhaus, the building stands on a cliff 1,834 metres (6,017 feet) above sea level. Visitors can reach it by taking an elevator built inside the rock at the end of the mountain road. The road is closed to public traffic but is used by tourist buses during the day.
The site has operated as a cafe and restaurant since 1952 and also houses an exhibition on its history. Hitler rarely used the Kehlsteinhaus, unlike his Berghof residence in the same area, whose ruins were blown up in 1952.
The Obersalzberg Documentation Center, located farther down the mountain and home to the area's main historical exhibition, was not affected by the fire.
Officials indicated that the Eagle’s Nest would be restored, although they have yet to decide how the work would be carried out.
“We’re not going to leave a ruin there,” Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told reporters in Berchtesgaden.
He said the site's future appearance would be discussed with local officials, historians, preservation experts and others.
“I think we will be able to find a sensible solution,” Herrmann added.
The Bavarian state government owns the building. The minister stressed the importance of preserving historical memory, saying, “It is important that we continue to do the work of remembrance.”