Flames tore through one of Germany’s most notorious historic landmarks on Tuesday as police said they detained a suspect after a fire erupted at the “Eagle’s Nest,” the mountain guest house used as a retreat by Nazi officials, including dictator Adolf Hitler.
Authorities said roughly 200 firefighters and other emergency personnel were deployed in the area around Berchtesgaden in Bavaria’s far south, where crews were battling the blaze after the building—known as the Kehlsteinhaus—caught fire.
In a statement, police said they were examining whether the person taken into custody near the scene had any link to the outbreak of the fire.
Investigators said there was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The Kehlsteinhaus was built in 1938 as a guest house for Nazi officials and their visitors, set amid a dramatic Alpine backdrop. The site is separate from Hitler’s nearby summer residence, the Berghof.
Following the war, the property came under the ownership of the state of Bavaria and was classified as a historical monument recalling the Nazi period.
