These images show the fire damage inflicted on Adolf Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest mountain retreat in Bavaria after a suspected arsonist was arrested while fleeing the scene on a motorbike.
About 200 firefighters were called in to tackle the blaze, which swept through the Nazi dictator’s remote Kehlsteinhaus residence in southern Germany, a site that is notoriously difficult to reach.
Police said crews could see flames shooting into the sky as they approached the building, which was “completely ablaze” amid the snow on Saturday.
The emergency response began on Friday evening after a smoke detector triggered the fire alarm at about 9:15pm, or 19:15 GMT.
New aerial photographs show the blackened structure perched on the snow-covered Alpine summit, with thick grey smoke rising above the ruins.
A 33-year-old man was stopped and arrested by police shortly after the fire broke out as he drove away from the residence.
The suspect, a German citizen with connections to the local area, was taken into custody.
After questioning him, police said he showed signs of mental illness and would be transferred to a psychiatric facility.
The smoldering Kehlsteinhaus on the Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden after the historic mountain retreat was severely damaged by fire
The Kehlsteinhaus mountain guesthouse, known as the Eagle’s Nest and formerly Adolf Hitler’s retreat, engulfed in flames early on October 24, 2026
The fire-damaged remains of the residence on the snow-covered mountain on October 24
Even so, investigators will examine whether the fire had a political motive because of the building’s controversial history.
Police said there was currently no indication that anyone else was involved beyond the suspect who had been arrested.
Police spokeswoman Lisa Maier said the site’s location, 1,834 metres (6,017 feet) above sea level, made firefighting operations particularly challenging.
Rain later turned into the season’s first heavy snowfall, forcing firefighters to withdraw overnight because of the danger posed by falling debris, officials said.
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No one was injured. Firefighters searched the building and had hoped to fully extinguish the blaze on Saturday.
Officials have indicated that the Eagle’s Nest will be restored, although no timetable for the repair work has been announced.
Bavaria’s interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, told reporters: “We’re not going to leave a ruin there.”
He added: “I think we will be able to find a sensible solution.”
Adolf Hitler, the Austrian-born German Nazi dictator, pictured in Berchtesgaden in 1935
Hitler on the terrace of his house on the Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden – presumably 1934
Italian Foreign Minister Count Galeazzo Ciano (1903 – 1944, left) with German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945, right) at the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagles Nest) above Berchtesgaden, Germany, 13th August 1939. Second from left is Hitler’s interpreter Paul Schmidt (1899 – 1970)
The Berghof in the Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden
The minister also stressed that ‘it is important that we continue to do the work of remembrance.’
Built between 1937 and 1938, the Eagle’s Nest forms part of the toxic legacy of Hitler’s Third Reich, which was responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews along with Roma, LGBTQ people and Communists in the Holocaust.
It was designed to serve as a monument to Hitler’s rule, though the dictator himself rarely visited the complex.
Built of stone and granite, the residence offers an exceptional view of the picturesque Bavarian Alpine landscape and was designed to impress foreign diplomats.
It survived the Second World War undamaged.
Since 1952, it has operated as a cafe and restaurant and also an exhibition recounting the house’s Nazi history.
The building is reachable by an elevator built inside the rock from the end of the mountain road.