This is a motorcyclist who met the police on the way to the scene. He smelled burning and tried to escape on his plane. The police managed to catch him. At an afternoon press conference in Berchtesgaden, prosecutor Rainer Vietze said the man was mentally ill. This was the result of a brief psychiatric report that an expert prepared on the 33-year-old German. The man was brought before an examining judge in Rosenheim on Saturday.
The public prosecutor's office requested that he be placed in a forensic facility for mentally ill criminals - the investigating judge accepted the request and the man, who lives in Berlin, was taken to a closed psychiatric hospital on Saturday. One must assume at least reduced culpability, said Vietze. A possible political motive is also being examined - but the investigators are only at the very beginning.
The fire almost completely destroyed the building and parts of the roof collapsed, as can be seen in images released by the police. There was huge material damage. “The damage is certainly in the millions,” said the chairman of the Berchtesgaden Mountain Experience Association, Bartl Wimmer, at the press conference.
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) emphasized that the house should be rebuilt. It is well insured and possible claims against the insurance company are already being examined. Reconstruction will take some time, but he pledged to look for a reasonable solution. The Free State of Bavaria is the owner of the building. Because of the historically difficult reference, historians should also be included in the process.
The Kehlsteinhaus fire alarm went off on Friday around 9:15 p.m. The first rescue workers arrived at 9:52 p.m., according to the police. Already on the way they could have “clearly noticed flames in the Kehlsteinhaus”.
Getting to the Kehlsteinhaus with the fire engines was difficult because of the location of the building. According to Wimmer's account, the firefighters sometimes acted at risk to their lives. Among other things, rain and snowfall hampered the operation.
There were also problems with the supply of sufficient fire-fighting water, said Interior Minister Herrmann. The fire engines had to climb 700 meters in altitude and struggle up the steep Kehlsteinstrasse; a firefighting helicopter could not be used. The vehicles carrying fire-fighting water drove in shuttle service.
According to current information, there are no injuries because the Kehlsteinhaus was closed on Friday. However, even on Saturday it was only possible to enter the building with respiratory protection, which made the search even more difficult. Around 200 rescue and emergency services from fire departments from six municipalities, district fire inspection, Bavarian Red Cross, mountain rescue service and police were on duty.
The Kehlsteinhaus is one of the most famous excursion destinations in the region; every year tens of thousands of people visit the mountain restaurant at an altitude of 1,834 meters. The building 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.
According to the website of the Berchtesgaden Mountain Experience Association, the Kehlsteinhaus – also called “Eagle’s Nest” – should be open this season until November 8th. After the fire, the area was largely cordoned off. The inn is closed “until further notice,” as stated on the homepage. The Nazi Documentation Center on Obersalzberg is not affected by the effects of the fire.
