Kehlsteinhaus on the Obersalzberg is on fire in Germany — Der Spiegel

A major fire has broken out at the Kehlsteinhaus on the Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden, Germany. The building is located at an altitude of 1,834 meters, Der Spiegel reports.

Firefighting operation continues

According to the police of Southern Bavaria, the first emergency services arrived at the scene at 21:52 and found a large-scale fire. Efforts to extinguish the blaze are ongoing.

According to preliminary information, there are no casualties. Police said that nobody was in the building, which now houses a mountain restaurant, at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire has not yet been established.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

A building from the Nazi regime era

The Kehlsteinhaus was completed in 1938. It was located in a residential and government area of the Nazi leadership on the Obersalzberg that was closed to the public. A mountain restaurant has operated in the building since 1952.

The house on the mountaintop was intended for use by high-ranking officials of the Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler visited it only a few times. The Kehlsteinstraße leads to the structure and can now be used only by buses, while the final approximately 125 meters to the building are covered by a gilded lift built into the rock.

In U.S. war films, the Kehlsteinhaus was called the Eagle’s Nest. Unlike other houses of Nazi leaders on the Obersalzberg, the structure was not damaged during Allied attacks. A documentation center also operates at the site today.