Nazi building: Kehlsteinhaus on Obersalzberg largely destroyed by fire

The Kehlsteinhaus on Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden, built by the National Socialists, was almost completely destroyed in a fire. Arson is suspected.

The police temporarily arrested a suspect near the scene of the fire. According to dpa information, the investigative authorities in Bavaria assume that they have caught the suspected cause of the major fire.

Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) told the dpa that a motorcyclist who met the emergency services on the way to the scene of the fire had been arrested. The man comes from the region and was injured. He is in the hospital. He did not give any further details.

Herrmann emphasized that the historically significant house, which is visited by tens of thousands of people every year, should be rebuilt. “We will hardly be able to leave a ruin there,” he said on the sidelines of the CSU party conference in Munich.

Around 200 firefighters and rescue services were deployed to fight the flames. According to the Upper Bavaria South Police Headquarters, the first rescue workers arrived at the mountain restaurant at an altitude of over 1,800 meters at 9:52 p.m. on Friday evening.

The extinguishing work was extremely difficult. Among other things, rain and snowfall hampered the operation. Getting to the Kehlsteinhaus with the fire engines was also difficult. According to previous findings, no one was in the Kehlsteinhaus.

According to the website of the Berchtesgaden Mountain Experience Association, the Kehlsteinhaus - dubbed the Eagle's Nest by the Allies - should be open this season until November 8th.

The building at an altitude of 1,834 meters has been a mountain restaurant since 1952. It was completed in 1938 and was located in a sealed-off residential and government area of ​​the National Socialist leadership that was closed to the public.

An exhibition there is dedicated to the history of the building. The Berchtesgaden Mountain Experience Association writes about the house on its website: "Built in 1937/38, the so-called tea house at the time was intended to serve as a place of political representation away from the public during the Nazi era. In fact, the importance of the Kehlsteinhaus remained low." Adolf Hitler received diplomats and other foreign guests there.