By Ira – JBizNews Desk

It survived the Second World War and nearly nine decades of history. In a single night, fire nearly wiped it out.

The Eagle’s Nest, the mountaintop retreat built for Adolf Hitler above the town of Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, was almost completely destroyed by a blaze that broke out Friday night, German authorities said. No injuries have been reported.

Dispatchers received the first fire alarm from the building at 9:15 p.m. local time. When firefighters arrived, the structure – known in German as the Kehlsteinhaus – was already engulfed in flames. Around 200 emergency personnel were sent to the scene, but the remote terrain, some 6,000 feet up in the Alps, made the fire hard to reach and slow to bring under control. Crews were still working to fully extinguish it on Saturday, and the public was asked to stay away from the area.

A suspect, and an open question of motive

Police detained a 33-year-old German man near the scene, apprehended while riding a motorcycle, and he is being held on suspicion of arson. A psychiatric evaluation concluded the man shows signs of possible mental illness, and prosecutor Rainer Vietze said diminished responsibility may be assumed. He has been placed in a psychiatric hospital.

Vietze said investigators are also examining a possible political motive, while stressing the probe is in its early stages. Police official Gerhart Holzinger told reporters there is currently nothing to suggest any other suspects were involved.

What was lost

The Eagle’s Nest was completed by the Nazis in 1938 as a showpiece retreat for Hitler and his inner circle. The wider Obersalzberg complex, including Hitler’s nearby Berghof residence, served as one of his headquarters – the place where the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union was planned. The stone lodge itself escaped destruction in 1945 and went on to become one of Germany’s most visited historical sites, housing a mountain inn and drawing tourists from around the world. Its own operators describe it as “a cautionary reminder of the abysses of the inhumane Nazi dictatorship.”

Bavaria’s interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said the site will “under no circumstances remain a ruin,” adding: “It is important that we continue our work of remembrance.”

The fire lands in the middle of a long-running German debate over what to do with buildings tied to Hitler – preserve them as warnings, or tear them down so they cannot become pilgrimage sites for extremists. Whatever investigators conclude about how the fire started, Germany has already decided the Eagle’s Nest will be rebuilt.

JBizNews Desk | Berchtesgaden, Germany

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