Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' destroyed by fire: police arrest a 33-year-old German motorcyclist as the arson suspect

The Kehlsteinhaus, the mountain-top guest house built for Adolf Hitler and known in English as the "Eagle's Nest", was largely destroyed by fire on the night of 23 to 24 October 2026. A smoke detector raised the alarm at about 21:50 on Friday, and firefighters approaching the building, which stands at 1,834 metres above Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, already saw high flames, ZDF and ORF reported. Nobody was inside and no one was injured.

About 180 firefighters and 50 police officers were deployed, ZDF reported. Crews could only enter the building with heavy breathing apparatus, police spokesperson Lisa Maier said, and firefighting was still going on on Saturday afternoon.

The suspect

Police and firefighters on their way up the narrow Kehlsteinstraße met a man on a motorcycle without a number plate. He tried to flee on the motorcycle but was stopped and provisionally arrested, dpa and ZDF reported. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann described it as "a very spontaneous intervention" by the officers.

The suspect is a 33-year-old German man with ties to the Berchtesgadener Land area who does not currently live there. He has not been named. He was brought before an investigating judge in Rosenheim on Saturday.

Prosecutor Rainer Vietze of the Traunstein public prosecutor's office said a short psychiatric assessment found the man to be mentally ill and that at least diminished criminal responsibility must be assumed. Prosecutors are seeking his placement in a secure forensic psychiatric facility. Investigators assume arson; a possible political motive is being examined, but the investigation is "at a very early stage", Vietze said. There is no indication that anyone else was involved.

Damage and rebuilding

The damage "certainly runs into the millions", said Bartl Wimmer, chair of the Berchtesgaden association that runs the site. The building, owned by the state of Bavaria, is well insured, dpa reported. Herrmann expects it to be rebuilt: "We will hardly be able to leave a ruin standing there." Historians will be involved because of the building's history.

Built in 1937–38 by the Nazi party, the Kehlsteinhaus was used to receive diplomats and for gatherings of Hitler's entourage. It survived the Second World War undamaged and has been a mountain restaurant with an exhibition on its history since 1952.