A fire has engulfed the Eagle’s Nest, the former retreat built for Adolf Hitler in the Bavarian Alps, with one person detained in connection with the blaze.
The alarm at the Kehlsteinhaus, in Germany’s Berchtesgaden district, was triggered on Friday night. Police said firefighters could see flames as they approached the building, which stands on a cliff about 1,800 metres above sea level.
Access to the site proved difficult because of its remote mountain location. Efforts to extinguish the fire were still under way on Saturday morning.
The building and its immediate surroundings could only be entered with respiratory protection equipment, authorities said. Firefighters found nobody inside and there were no indications that anyone had been injured.
A person was detained as a possible suspect, although police said it had not yet been established whether they were involved in starting the fire.
The Kehlsteinhaus was completed in 1938. It can be reached by an elevator from the end of a winding mountain road, which is closed to public traffic but used by buses carrying visitors.
The site has operated as a cafe and restaurant since 1952 and also contains an exhibition about its history.
