
Germany grapples with how to handle the burned Kehlsteinhaus amid far-right resurgence
The Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus), a Nazi-era mountain retreat in the German Alps, was gutted by suspected arson on 23 October, sparking debate over whether to rebuild it, leave it as ruins, or return the site to nature amid concerns about Neo-Nazi pilgrimage and Germany's far-right resurgence.
AI-generated summary
The Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) was built by the Nazis in 1938 and frequented by Adolf Hitler. After World War Two it was classified as a historical monument recalling the Nazi era. It was gutted by fire in a suspected arson attack last month. The Obersalzberg Documentation Centre opened nearby in the 1990s to confront Nazi crimes. Germany and Austria have long struggled with the legacy of Nazi-era buildings.
Perched on a ridge high up in the spectacular scenery of the German Alps lie the burned-out ruins of a mountain house called The Eagle's Nest, which is now at the heart of an intense debate about Germany's Nazi past.
Known in German as Kehlsteinhaus, the retreat was built by the Nazis in 1938, and frequented by Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazis and their guests. After World War Two it was classified as a historical monument recalling the Nazi era.
Last month it was gutted by fire in a suspected arson attack, and some believe it should be completely destroyed, the site returned to nature and all memory of its Nazi past forgotten.
But others want it either partially or completely rebuilt, wary of the risk of turning it into a site for Neo-Nazi pilgrimage at a time when Germany is witnessing the resurgence of the far-right.
Germany has an "everlasting responsibility to communicate, to deal with our Nazi past", said Isabel Heinemann, professor of contemporary history at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU).
But rebuilding the site completely, she warned, would mean putting "highly ideologised or highly ideological architecture" back in place.
Before it was burned down during the evening of 23 October, the Eagle's Nest had been a popular tourist attraction, owned by the state of Bavaria and operating for many years as a restaurant.
Visitors would take a bus and then ride the original brass and mirror-panelled lift through the mountain to the Kehlsteinhaus to savour the magnificent views above the town of Berchtesgaden.
Once there, they could eat sausages in the beer garden on the Obersalzberg at 1,834m (6,017ft) above sea level, overlooking the Alps.
Unlike Hitler's nearby summer residence, the Berghof, which was bombed in World War Two and demolished in 1952, the Eagle's Nest survived the war.
Tens of thousands of tourists visited each season, providing an important source of income to the region.
In the 1990s, amid concerns that the site did not do enough to confront the crimes of the Nazi past, a museum, the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre, was opened close by.
Some feel this is the moment to allow the site to fade into history.
"It's been torched now. It's been destroyed. I think they should just clear away the rubble and leave the mountain as it should be in its natural state," said Prof Sir Richard J. Evans, a specialist in Nazi Germany at the University of Cambridge.
That has happened with "quite a few other Nazi sites", he argued, including the bunker in Berlin where Hitler committed suicide: "The bunker was filled in with concrete and a children's playground put on the top of it on the ground."
The Kehlsteinhaus was just "a Nazi vanity project" since romanticised by the name Eagle's Nest, he said.
But Bavaria's authorities take a different view about the site's future.
Both the state's interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, and its minister for the arts, Markus Blume, have spoken out in favour of rebuilding the Kehlsteinhaus.
"We can hardly leave a ruin standing there," Herrmann said.
Sven Keller, head of the Obersalzberg Documentation Centre, believes it is important not to leave the site in ruins, as that could encourage Neo-Nazi pilgrims, who would be able to hike up there completely undisturbed.
"We have quite some experience at Obersalzberg with what happens if we clear those sites. Hitler's Berghof was demolished in the 1950s, and in our experience, this does not remove such sites from the mental maps of people," he told the BBC's Today programme.
Nor does he believe "a one-on-one reconstruction" of the site is possible, and Blume has made clear on Bavarian radio that "it should not and must not cost the taxpayer anything".
Herrmann said they would look for a sensible solution in consultation with historians, given the historically complex circumstances surrounding the building.
Heinemann, who also heads the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History, believes full-scale reconstruction should be "out of the question".
"I rather think we can document the state left by the fire and also document the historical remains of the Kehlsteinhaus, and then reconstruct parts in a modern design, to make clear the different layers of time that can be seen in this building," she told the BBC.
Germany and Austria have long struggled to deal with the fraught legacy of buildings and sites connected to the Nazi era.
With the recent rise of the far-right AfD and the Austrian Freedom Party, the debate over Erinnerungskultur (Culture of Remembrance) has taken on a new urgency.
A row broke out recently in Germany when AfD and conservative CDU councillors in a town in Saxony decided to ban "stumbling stones" memorials - embedded small brass plaques in the streets - to victims of the Nazis.
In Austria over the summer, a police station was opened in the house where Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn. It followed years of controversy about how the house should be used.
The Austrian government said the police presence would help prevent neo-Nazi pilgrims.
But others had wanted the house to become a centre of responsibility, actively confronting the Nazi past.
As one resident of Braunau am Inn told me, it was a delicate balance between how much to remember and how much to forget.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Bavarian authorities will consult with historians before deciding on a partial or complete reconstruction approach
Likely · Within weeks
Any reconstruction will not be funded by taxpayers
Likely · Within weeks
Full-scale reconstruction will not proceed
Likely · Within months
At least 33 people were killed and 39 injured in Saudi airstrikes on Bani Hushaysh village near Sanaa, Yemen, according to Houthi-run media. The attack, among the deadliest since clashes resumed in July, ended the 2022 UN-brokered truce. Most casualties were women and children, with several people including emergency responders trapped under rubble.
Saudi civil defence issued danger warnings for Dammam, Dhahran, and Abqaiq after Houthi rebels claimed attacks on Dammam airport and military targets, while Yemen urged Lebanon to stop Hezbollah's military assistance to the Houthis.
The Civil Defense Directorate issued a danger warning in Dammam, Ahsa and Bukayk through the National Emergency Early Warning Platform and called on citizens to move to a safe room. Shortly after, it was reported that the danger was over. It was stated that the conflicts in Yemen have increased and the Iran-backed Houthis are targeting Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles and UAVs.
Residents of Oleshky, a Russian-controlled Ukrainian city on the Dnipro River, face starvation and landmines as food supplies dwindle and winter approaches. A six-day ceasefire brokered with help from US first lady Melania Trump allowed some residents to escape, while Ukraine's human rights ombudsman and foreign minister accused Russia of using hunger as a weapon of occupation.

The UAE National Guard rescued all 22 crew members of Arab nationalities after a fire broke out aboard a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman; all were given first aid, handed over to authorities, and reported in stable condition.

The Macau Elementary Court sentenced former Legislative Council member Au Kam San to 12 years and six months in prison for violating the National Security Act. This ruling, which came a day after the additional sentencing of Hong Kong's Joshua Wong, raises analysis that China's national security-centered governance is being strengthened in Macau following Hong Kong.