Hitler's mountain retreat, the Kehlsteinhaus, also known as the Eagle's Nest, was engulfed in flames in the early hours of Saturday. Firefighters who arrived at the scene found the building ablaze, and no one was injured.
Dispatchers in Traunstein received the fire alarm from the building at 21:15 local time (19:15 GMT) on Friday. Around 200 emergency service personnel were deployed to extinguish the blaze, but the difficult terrain hampered efforts to put out the fire.
Police in the southern German state of Bavaria detained a 33-year-old German national during the fire. The suspect was arrested while riding a motorcycle near the scene. Police told journalists that the possible motive is still under investigation, and a criminal inquiry has been launched. Local police official Gerhart Holzinger stated at a press conference that there is currently no evidence of other suspects.
The building is located above the town of Berchtesgaden. It was one of several facilities in the area used by the Nazi dictator and his entourage during the Second World War. Hitler and senior Nazi officials used the nearby Berghof residence to plan the invasion of the USSR in 1941, and the entire complex was considered one of his headquarters. Hitler also used the area as a backdrop for propaganda films in which he was portrayed as an animal and nature lover.
Local media reported that the site was "largely destroyed", and the public has been advised to avoid the area. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told journalists that the site "will not be left as a ruin under any circumstances", according to BR24. "It is important that we continue our work of remembrance", he added.
The Eagle's Nest was completed by the Nazis in 1938. It is situated at an altitude of approximately 1,800 metres (5,900 feet) and escaped destruction after Germany's defeat in 1945. Since then, it has become a popular tourist destination and houses a mountain inn. According to its official website, it serves as a "warning reminder of the abyss of the inhuman Nazi dictatorship".
During the Second World War, Hitler and his followers were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people, including the mass murder of European Jews. Homosexuals, Roma, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities were sent to concentration camps and killed.
A wider debate is ongoing in Germany and Vienna over whether buildings associated with Hitler should be preserved, repurposed or demolished. In June, Berlin authorities announced they would demolish one of Hitler's bunkers to build housing and offices on the site. Critics of those plans argued that the bunker has "significant historical value" and should have been converted into a museum and memorial site with an exhibition on the end of the war. In July, Austrian authorities renovated the house in the town of Braunau am Inn where Hitler was born and converted it into a police station.
