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German Press Agency
MUNICH – The mountain retreat in southern Germany known as the Eagle’s Nest and formerly used by Adolf Hitler was largely destroyed by a fire overnight, police said on Saturday.
Emergency forces were called to the building, known in German as the Kehlsteinhaus, near the small town of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria around 10 p.m. Friday, with the fire still burning at 7 a.m. Saturday , officers said.
Police believe the blaze was caused by arson.
A motorcyclist detained near the Eagle’s Nest after the fire broke out is thought to have started the blaze, investigators told the German Press Agency.
Public Prosecutor Rainer Vietze told a news conference in Berchtesgaden that an expert had carried out a brief psychiatric assessment of the 33-year-old German and concluded he was mentally ill.
The suspect was brought before an investigating judge in Rosenheim on Saturday.
The public prosecutor’s office applied for the man to be placed in a facility for offenders with mental health issues.
The investigating judge granted the application, and the man, who is resident in Berlin but has links to the region, was to be admitted to a secure psychiatric unit Saturday.
Vietze said it was being assumed the suspect had diminished responsibility for his actions. A possible political motive is also being investigated, though the investigators are only at the very beginning of this line of inquiry.
The investigators did not reveal much about the possible motives and background of the 33-year-old German man.
Earlier, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann had thanked the police for their intervention on the Obersalzberg peak where the Eagle’s Nest is located. The suspected arsonist had come toward the officers on a motorbike along the narrow , steep road leading to the site. It had not been easy to apprehend him. According to German Press Agency reports, the man also attempted to flee on his motorbike.
Police assume that no one has been injured as no one is believed to have been inside the building, which is now used as a restaurant, at the time the blaze broke out.
Firefighting efforts were complicated by the building’s remote location atop the 6,030-foot peak. The site is normally accessed via bus, on a trip that takes 20 minutes and passes through five tunnels.
Firefighting operations continued Saturday morning, with the surrounding area cordoned off. The building could only be accessed using heavy breathing equipment, police said.
According to Herrmann, the historically significant building – which is visited by tens of thousands of people every year – is to be rebuilt: “We will hardly be able to leave a ruin standing there.”
The state of Bavaria is the owner, while the mountain lodge, situated at an altitude of 6,017 feet, is managed by the municipal Berchtesgaden State Foundation.
It is clear that the building suffered enormous damage.
“The damage certainly runs into the millions,” said Bartl Wimmer, chairman of the Berchtesgaden Mountain Experience Association.
The former Nazi retreat near the Austrian border was completed in 1938. It has been used as a restaurant since 1952. However, the establishment was closed Friday.
Hitler visited the Eagle’s Nest several times to receive diplomats and other foreign guests, according to the local tourism association in Berchtesgaden.
However, politically, the retreat “remained of little significance” and was mainly used by senior Nazi officials for leisure purposes and private celebrations, according to the association.
Today, it houses an exhibition highlighting its Nazi history.
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