Adolf Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’ Retreat Engulfed by Flames, Arrest Made

A fire has ripped through Adolf Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” mountain retreat, with the main building “unlikely to be salvageable” and a suspect in custody.

Police in Germany’s southern Bavaria region said roughly 200 emergency responders had been sent to the site, officially called Kehlsteinhaus, about 9:15 p.m. local time on Friday (3:15 p.m. ET).

Flames were visible from the remote Alpine site as the fire crews approached the retreat, with emergency services only able to approach the site with breathing equipment, police said. No-one was reported injured.

Officials said the fire was still burning in the early hours of Saturday, the hard-to-reach location above the town of Berchtesgaden complicating efforts to fully extinguish the flames.

A police spokesperson told Germany’s Bild newspaper the property was “extensively damaged” and was “unlikely to be salvageable.”

Authorities are investigating whether the fire was triggered by an arson attack, and a motorcyclist was stopped close to the scene, the newspaper reported.

Police separately said a “suspicious person” had been taken into custody but that prosecutors in the nearby town of Traunstein had taken over the criminal investigation into the cause of the fire.

No information has been released about the suspect’s identity, nor possible motive.

This is a breaking story; more to follow.