Bavarian officials call for Eagle's Nest to be rebuilt to counter neo-Nazis after arson suspect fled burning retreat on motorbike

Bavarian authorities have argued Hitler's Eagle's Nest must be reconstructed as a site of historical remembrance, after a 33-year-old German man with connections to Berchtesgaden was arrested while fleeing down the mountain on a motorbike. Police had warned the gutted building was 'unlikely to be salvageable', but officials say abandoning it would cede ground to far-right extremists. He showed symptoms of mental illness and is to be transferred to a psychiatric facility, though investigators have not ruled out a political motive.

Around 200 firefighters battled the blaze 1,834 metres up as the season's first snow fell.

Mussolini gifted Hitler a red marble fireplace that later lost chips to Allied souvenir hunters.

The Kehlsteinhaus has run as a tourist restaurant since 1952, with an exhibit on its history.