World News
Fire largely destroys the Eagle's Nest in Bavaria and police arrest a 33-year-old man
By Staff Writer | 25 October 2026
About 200 firefighters and emergency workers fought the blaze at the Kehlsteinhaus above Berchtesgaden through Friday night. Prosecutors say the suspect showed signs of possible mental illness, and a political motive is also being examined.
Police in Bavaria have arrested a 33-year-old German man after a fire swept through the Kehlsteinhaus, the mountain-top building above Berchtesgaden known as the Eagle's Nest, which was built for Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leadership.
A smoke detector raised the alarm at about 9.15pm local time on Friday. When firefighters arrived at about 9.50pm, the whole building was in flames. Crews from six municipalities, the Bavarian Red Cross and the local mountain rescue service were sent to the site. Police said no one was injured and no one was found inside.
Local media reported that the building had been largely destroyed. Fire was still visible at 7am on Saturday, and smoke rose from the shell later in the morning.
A hard place to fight a fire
The Kehlsteinhaus stands at about 1,834 metres and is reached only by a road cut into the mountain. A police spokeswoman, Lisa Maier, said firefighters had struggled to reach it, and that the building could be entered only with heavy breathing apparatus. Strong wind and rain, which turned into the first snow of the year, hampered the operation, and crews had to withdraw for part of the night.
Police stopped the suspect on a motorcycle near the scene. He has ties to the area but does not live there. The public prosecutor, Rainer Vietze, said a psychiatric report found signs of possible mental illness, so diminished responsibility might be assumed, and the man was sent to a psychiatric facility after questioning. Vietze said a political motive was also being considered but stressed that the inquiry was at an early stage. A police official, Gerhart Holzinger, said nothing pointed to anyone else being involved.
A building the state intends to rebuild
The Kehlsteinhaus was built between 1937 and 1938 and was one of the few buildings of the Hitler era to survive the war undamaged. Since 1952 it has housed a restaurant and an exhibition on its Nazi history, and it is classed as a historic monument. The building belongs to the Bavarian state government, and officials indicated it would be restored after talks with local officials, historians and conservators.
We're not going to leave a ruin there.
Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Interior Minister
Herrmann added that it was important to continue the work of remembrance. Germany and Austria have long debated what to do with buildings tied to Hitler. In June, Berlin announced that one of his bunkers would be demolished to make way for flats and offices, and in July the house in Braunau am Inn where he was born reopened as a police station.
Officers closed the road leading to the building, and the public was asked to keep away from the area.